“Mathematics are everywhere in real life. For example, GPS is based on advanced mathematical analysis, which is why supporting research in this field is fundamental”

Awarded the 14th BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences, J. François Le Gall discusses in this interview his decisive contribution to the study of Brownian motion and random processes. He explains how these mathematical models allow us to describe complex phenomena present in nature and in multiple areas of science, from statistical physics to biology. His reflections reveal the depth and beauty of a mathematics that connects randomness with universal structures and continues to open new avenues of research.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences has gone in this fourteenth edition to professors Charles Fefferman of Princeton University and Jean-François Le Gall of Université Paris-Saclay in recognition of their fundamental contributions in two areas of mathematics that have had multiple ramifications, with applications extending across a broad array of science and technology fields.