John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928–2015) was an American mathematician w
John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928–2015) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, differential geometry, and the study of partial differential equations. He is widely known for his groundbreaking doctoral thesis on non-cooperative games, which defined what is now called the Nash equilibrium.
Key Achievements
- Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1994): Awarded for his pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games.
- Abel Prize (2015): Received for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations and their applications to geometric analysis.
- Nash Equilibrium: A fundamental concept in game theory used across economics, computing, and evolutionary biology.
- Mathematical Theorems: Credited with the Nash embedding theorem, the De Giorgi–Nash theorem, and the Nash–Moser theorem.
Personal Life and Mental Health
- Struggle with Schizophrenia: In 1959, Nash began suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, which severely impacted his career for over two decades.
- "The Phantom of Fine Hall": During his illness, he became a mysterious figure at Princeton University, known for filling blackboards with complex equations late at night.
- Recovery: By the mid-1980s, his condition gradually improved without medication, allowing him to return to academic work.
- Popular Culture: His life was the subject of the 1998 biography A Beautiful Mindby Sylvia Nasar, which was adapted into a 2001 Academy Award-winning filmstarring Russell Crowe.
Death
John Nash and his wife, Alicia, died in a car accident on May 23, 2015, on the New Jersey Turnpike while returning from receiving the Abel Prize in Norway
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