Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld (Ukrainian: Володи́мир Ге́ршонович Дрінфельд; Russian: Влади́мир Ге́ршонович Дри́нфельд; born February 14, 1954), surname also romanized as Drinfel'd, is a mathematician from the former USSR, who emigrated to the United States and is currently working at the University of Chicago.
Drinfeld's work connected algebraic geometry over finite fields with number theory, especially the theory of automorphic forms, through the notions of elliptic module and the theory of the geometric Langlands correspondence. Drinfeld introduced the notion of a quantum group (independently discovered by Michio Jimbo at the same time) and made important contributions to mathematical physics, including the ADHM construction of instantons, algebraic formalism of the quantum inverse scattering method, and the Drinfeld–Sokolov reduction in the theory of solitons.
He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1990.[1] In 2016, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[2] In 2018 he received the Wolf Prize in Mathematics.[3] In 2023 he was awarded the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences.[4]