Abel Prize 2017: Yves Meyer wins 'maths Nobel' for work on wavelets

Frenchman wins prestigious prize for theory that links maths, information technology and computer science

French mathematician Yves Meyer was today awarded the 2017 Abel Prize for his work on wavelets, a mathematical theory with applications in data compression, medical imaging and the detection of gravitational waves.

Meyer, 77, will receive 6 million Norwegian krone (about £600,000) for the prize, which recognises outstanding contributions to mathematics and is awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

The Abel Prize has been awarded annually since 2003 and was last year won by Briton Andrew Wiles for his work on solving Fermat’s Last Theorem. It is considered by many to be a maths equivalent of the Nobel Prize, which has no prize for mathematics.