Quick Facts
Biography
Vincent Lafforgue (born c. 1974) is a French mathematician. He is a "Directeur de Recherches" at the Institute Fourier in Grenoble. Lafforgue was awarded the 2000 EMS Prize for his contribution to the K-theory of operator algebras: the proof of the Baum–Connes conjecture for discrete co-compact subgroups of
S
L
(
3
,
R
)
{\displaystyle SL(3,\mathbb {R} )}
,
S
L
(
3
,
C
)
{\displaystyle SL(3,\mathbb {C} )}
,
S
L
(
3
,
Q
p
)
{\displaystyle SL(3,\mathbb {Q} _{p})}
and some other locally compact group (and of more general objects).
Lafforgue participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad and wrote two perfect papers in 1990 and 1991, making him one of only two French mathematicians to win two gold medals (besides Joseph Najnudel, 1997–98). He is the younger brother of Fields Medalist Laurent Lafforgue.