Peter Lax

Peter David Lax (born Lax Péter Dávid; 1 May 1926) is a Hungarian-born American mathematician and <a href="/facts/Abel_Prize/j5XVqwKd">Abel Prize</a> laureate working in the areas of pure and applied <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematics</a>.
Lax has made important contributions to <a href="/facts/Integrable_system/Crgzjw6G">integrable systems</a>, <a href="/facts/Fluid_dynamics/y7uzSCfg">fluid dynamics</a> and <a href="/facts/Shock_wave/CqrG1Xm5">shock waves</a>, <a href="/facts/Soliton/5rC19BSU">solitonic</a> physics, hyperbolic conservation laws, and mathematical and <a href="/facts/Scientific_computing/PnVD19hw">scientific computing</a>, among other fields.
In a 1958 paper Lax stated a conjecture about <a href="/facts/Matrix_(mathematics)/qa8FI4ko">matrix</a> representations for third order hyperbolic polynomials which remained unproven for over four decades. Interest in the "Lax conjecture" grew as mathematicians working in several different areas recognized the importance of its implications in their field, until it was finally proven to be true in 2003.

Peter Lax open-in-new

Peter Lax