Vaughan Jones

Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones (born 31 December 1952) is a New Zealand mathematician, known for his work on von Neumann algebras, knot polynomials and conformal field theory. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1990.

He was born in Gisborne, New Zealand and brought up in Cambridge, New Zealand. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Auckland, after which he travelled widely abroad.

His work on knot polynomials, with the discovery of what is now called the Jones polynomial, was from an unexpected direction with origins in functional analysis, as conceived by Alain Connes. It led to the solution of a number of the classical problems of knot theory, and to increased interest in low-dimensional topology.

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