ive maths helps us to capture and process the analogue world around us. One example of decisional maths applied at the system level would be an admission control algorithm. Some of the mathematical value both in pure and applied maths is 'heritage value', the legacy of several thousand years of mathematical study and inspiration. Some of the mathe- matical value is 'contemporary value', the contributions presently being made by practicing mathematicians. So it is relevant to consider the areas in contemporary mathematics that are most likely to prove useful in terms of differentiating the future 'user experience proposition'. 10.12.1 Modern Mathematicians and Their Relevance to the User Experience Proposition One way to do this is to find out what work, or more accurately, whose work is winning awards. For years there was no mathematical equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Rumour has it that the Swedish mathematician Gosta Mittag Leffler had an affair with Alfred Nobel's wife. This effectively shut out all future mathematicians particularly Swedish mathematicians from the Nobel award and recognition process. There is a Field award for mathematicians but this is only awarded every 4 years and is restricted to mathematicians under 40. In 2002, the Norwegian government decided to fund a yearly award known as the Abel Prize6 to mark the double centenary of the birth of Niels Henrik Abel. Niels Henrik Abel died in 1829 at the age of 27 after contracting TB following an ill-advised sleigh ride. In his short life he had, however, developed the foundations for group theory, also worked on in parallel by Galois. Group theory is essentially an integration of geometry, number theory and algebra. Abel worked specifically on the commutative properties of group operations, arithmetical processes 6 http://www.abelprisen.no/no/. Making Telecoms Work like addition where it does not matter in which order sums are performed. These came to be known as abelian groups. Strangely, but perhaps not surprisingly, group theory is increasingly r