Hidehiko Yamabe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hidehiko Yamabe
Born (1923-08-22)August 22, 1923
Ashiya, Hyōgo
Died November 20, 1960(1960-11-20) (aged 37)
Evanston, Illinois
Nationality Japanese
Fields Differential geometry, Group theory
Institutions Osaka University, Princeton University, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University
Alma mater University of Tokyo
Doctoral advisor Shokichi Iyanaga[1]
Known for Hilbert's fifth problem, Yamabe flow, Yamabe invariant, Yamabe problem
Influenced Differential geometry, Group theory

Hidehiko Yamabe (山辺 英彦 Yamabe Hidehiko, August 22, 1923 in Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan – November 20, 1960 in Evanston, Illinois) was a Japanese mathematician. His most notable work includes the final solution of Hilbert's fifth problem.[2]

Life

Hidehiko Yamabe was born on August 22, 1923 in the city of Ashiya, belonging to the Hyōgo Prefecture, the sixth son of Takehiko and Rei Yamabe.[3] After completing the Senior High School in September 1944, he joined Tokyo University as a student of the Department of Mathematics and graduated in September 1947: his doctoral advisor was Shokichi Iyanaga.[1] Then he was associated to the Department of Mathematics at Osaka University until June 1956, even when he was working in Princeton, New Jersey at the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University. Shortly before coming to the United States of America, Yamabe married his wife Etsuko, and by 1956 they had two daughters. Yamabe died suddenly of a stroke in November 1960,[4] just months after accepting a full professorship at Northwestern University.

Academic career

After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1947, Yamabe became an assistant at Osaka University. From 1952 until 1954 he was an assistant at Princeton University, receiving his Ph.D. from Osaka University while at Princeton. He left Princeton in 1954 to become assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Except for one year as a professor at Osaka University, he stayed in Minnesota until 1960. Yamabe died suddenly of a stroke in November 1960,[5] just months after accepting a full professorship at Northwestern University.

The Yamabe Memorial Lecture and the Yamabe Symposium

After coming back to Japan, Etsuko Yamabe and her daughters lived with the benefits of Hidehiko's social security and of funds raised privately by her and her husband friends in the United States of America.[6] When she remarried,[7] having achieved some financial stability, it was her wish to return the kindness shown to her in a time of great need by setting up funds for an annual lecture, to be alternatively held at Northwestern and Minnesota University: the Yamabe Memorial Lecture was so established, and was able to attract distinguished lecturers as Eugenio Calabi.[8] Further funding permitted the expansion of the lecture to the present state bi-annual Yamabe Symposium.[9]

Work

Research activity

He published eighteen papers on several topics:[10] all of them have been collected and published as a book, edited by Ralph Philip Boas, Jr. for Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.[11] They continue to influence mathematics to this day.[8]

Publications

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 According to the Yamabe Symposium Organizing Committee (2008, p. 6)
  2. ↑ According to Goto (1961, p. i): however, the question is still debated since in the literature there have been other such claims, largely based on different interpretations of Hilbert's statement of the problem given by various researchers. For a review of recent claims (however completely ignoring the contributions of Yamabe) and for a new one, see Rosinger (1998, pp. xiii–xiv and pp. 169–170). For a general review, including an historical sketch dealing with all contributors, see the Hilbert's fifth problem entry.
  3. ↑ The content of this section is largely based on the commemoration by Goto (1961, p. i).
  4. ↑ According to Goto (1961, p. i), who also reports that Yamabe precisely suffered from subarachnoid hemorrhage.
  5. ↑ According to Goto (1961, p. i), who also refers that he precisely suffered from subarachnoid hemorrhage.
  6. ↑ According to the University of Minnesota School of Mathematics Newsletter (2008 p. 6).
  7. ↑ This ad other few details on her life after the death of Yamabe, are reported in the University of Minnesota School of Mathematics Newsletter (2008 p. 6), the only source giving such informations.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 According to the University of Minnesota School of Mathematics Newsletter (2008 p. 7).
  9. ↑ According to the University of Minnesota School of Mathematics Newsletter (2008 p. 7): see also the brief historical sketch "History of the Yamabe Memorial Symposium" at the Symposium web page.
  10. ↑ According to Goto (1961, p. i).
  11. ↑ See (Boas 1967).

References

External links

Authority control
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.