Ruth Moufang

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Ruth Moufang (1905–1977) was a German mathematician. Her research in projective geometry built upon the work of David Hilbert. She obtained her doctorate in 1931 under direction of Max Dehn. She was responsible for ground-breaking work on non-associative algebraic structures, including the Moufang loops named after her.

Her most important contribution to the foundations of geometry was the discovery that by replacing the incidence theorem of Desargues with the theorem of the complete quadrilateral (also known as the invariance of the fourth harmonic point) together with the incidence axioms of Hilbert, you obtain an alternative division algebra instead of a skew field.

Denied permission to teach by Hitler's minister of education, she worked in private industry until 1946, when she became the first woman professor at the University of Frankfurt.

[edit] References

• O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "Ruth Moufang". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
• Ruth Moufang at the Mathematics Genealogy Project