The Abel Prize for Mathematics was awarded to Argentine-American Luis Caffarelli, an expert in "partial differential equations" which can explain phenomena ranging from how water flows to population growth.
Caffarelli is the first South American mathematician to win the prestigious Norwegian prize, which was inaugurated in 2003.
Last year, the prize was won by US mathematician Dennis Sullivan for his research into topology and chaos theory.
Named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), the distinction comes with a 7.5-million-kroner (US$710,000) prize.
Caffarelli will receive his prize in Oslo on May 23.
The Argentinian-American has won numerous awards, including the Leroy Steele Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Mathematical Society, the Wolf Prize and the Shaw Prize.
