Aperiodical News Roundup – July 2026

Here’s a short round-up of maths news from this month. The 2026 Fields medals have been awarded to Yu Deng, John Pardon, Jacob Tsimerman and Hong Wang. The Fields Medal is awarded to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and for the promise of future achievement, and this year’s winners work across PDEs, symplectic geometry, algebraic geometry, harmonic analysis and measure theory. Hannah Fry has been awarded the IMU’s Leelavati prize for increasing public awareness of maths. “She has become a voice for mathematics that resonates far beyond the public audience normally interested in science communication. Through a wide range of media – including books, videos, and television programs – she has used outstanding creativity and originality to translate mathematics into a language of wonder and relevance for the public without diminishing its scope and importance.” A result in braid theory has been proven by a team including Joan Birman, aged 99. The proof…