Louis Nirenberg
Louis Nirenberg | |
|---|---|
 Louis Nirenberg in 1975 | |
| Born | 28 February 1925 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Residence | United States |
| Citizenship | Canadian and American |
| Alma mater | McGill University (BS, 1945) New York University (PhD, 1950) |
| Known for | Partial differential equations Gagliardo–Nirenberg interpolation inequality Gagliardo–Nirenberg–Sobolev inequality Bounded mean oscillation (John–Nirenberg space) |
| Awards | Bôcher Memorial Prize (1959) Crafoord Prize (1982) Steele Prize (1994, 2014) National Medal of Science (1995) Chern Medal (2010) Abel Prize in Mathematics (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | New York University |
| Doctoral advisor | James Stoker |
| Doctoral students | |
| Notes | |
Louis Nirenberg (born 28 February 1925) is a Canadian-American mathematician, considered one of the most outstanding mathematicians of the 20th century.[1]
He has made fundamental contributions to linear and nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) and their application to complex analysis and geometry. His contributions include the Gagliardo–Nirenberg interpolation inequality, which is important in the solution of the elliptic partial differential equations that arise in many areas of mathematics,[2] and the formalization of the bounded mean oscillation known as John–Nirenberg space, which is used to study the behavior of both elastic materials and games of chance known as martingales.[3][4]
Nirenberg's work on PDEs was described by the American Mathematical Society in 2002 as "about the best that's been done" towards solving the Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness problem of fluid mechanics and turbulence, which is a Millennium Prize Problem and one of the largest unsolved problems in physics.[1]
Biography[edit]
Nirenberg was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and attended Baron Byng High School. He studied as an undergraduate at McGill University, completing there his B.S. in both mathematics and physics in 1945. He obtained his doctorate from New York University in 1949 under the direction of James Stoker. He subsequently became a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. He was also conferred the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the University of British Columbia in 2010.
He has received many honours and awards, including the Bôcher Memorial Prize (1959), the Jeffery–Williams Prize (1987), the Steele Prize (1994 and 2014), the National Medal of Science (1995), and was the inaugural recipient of both the Crafoord Prize (1982, shared with Vladimir Arnold) and the Chern Medal (2010).[4][5][6] In 2015 he was awarded the Abel Prize along with John Nash. He is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[7]
Selected works[edit]
- Functional Analysis. Courant Institute 1961.
- Lectures on linear partial differential equations. In: Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences of the AMS. American Mathematical Society, Providence (Rhode Island) 1973.
- Topics in Nonlinear Functional Analysis. Courant Institute 1974.
- Partial differential equations in the first half of the century, in Jean-Paul Pier Development of mathematics 1900-1950, Birkhäuser 1994
- Caffarelli, Luis; Kohn, Robert; Nirenberg, Louis (1982), "Partial regularity of suitable weak solutions of the navier-stokes equations", Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics, 35: 771–831, doi:10.1002/cpa.3160350604
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Allyn Jackson (March 2002). "Interview with Louis Nirenberg" (PDF). Notices of the AMS. 49 (4): 441–449. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- ^ Nirenberg, L. (1959). "On elliptic partial differential equations". Ann. Scuola Norm. Sup. Pisa (3). 13: 115–162.
- ^ John, F.; Nirenberg, L. (1961), "On functions of bounded mean oscillation", Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics, 14 (3): 415–426, doi:10.1002/cpa.3160140317, MR 0131498, Zbl 0102.04302
- ^ a b "John F. Nash Jr. and Louis Nirenberg share the Abel Prize". The Abel Prize. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- ^ John J O'Connor, Edmund F Robertson (February 2010). "Louis Nirenberg". The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. University of St Andrews. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- ^ Cipra, Barry (2010-08-19). "Fields Medals, Other Top Math Prizes, Awarded". Science/AAAS. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- ^ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2013-02-24.
External links[edit]
- Interview with Louis Nirenberg, AMS
- Homepage of Louis Nirenberg
- Simons Foundation, Science Lives: Louis Nirenberg
- 1925 births
- 20th-century American mathematicians
- 21st-century American mathematicians
- Abel Prize laureates
- Anglophone Quebec people
- Canadian emigrants to the United States
- Canadian mathematicians
- Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
- Canadian Jews
- Guggenheim Fellows
- ISI highly cited researchers
- Living people
- Members of the French Academy of Sciences
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- National Medal of Science laureates
- Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences faculty
- PDE theorists
- People from Hamilton, Ontario
- McGill University alumni
- Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni
