Joseph Ritt

Joseph Ritt
Born August 23, 1893
New York City, USA
Died January 5, 1951 (aged 57)
New York City, USA
Nationality American
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Columbia University
Alma mater Columbia University
Doctoral advisor Edward Kasner
Doctoral students Richard Cohn
Irving Gerst
Ellis Kolchin
Howard Levi
Edgar Lorch
Known for Ritt theorem

Joseph Fels Ritt (August 23, 1893 – January 5, 1951) was an American mathematician at Columbia University in the early 20th century. He was born and died in New York.

After beginning his undergraduate studies at City College of New York, Ritt received his B.A. from George Washington University in 1913. He then earned a doctorate in mathematics from Columbia University in 1917 under the supervision of Edward Kasner. After doing calculations for the war effort in World War I, he joined the Columbia faculty in 1921. He served as department chair from 1942 to 1945, and in 1945 became the Davies Professor of Mathematics.[1][2] In 1932, George Washington University honored him with a Doctorate in Science,[3] and in 1933 he was elected to join the United States National Academy of Sciences.[1][2] He has 463 academic descendants listed in the Mathematics Genealogy Project, mostly through his student Ellis Kolchin.[4]

Ritt is the founder of differential algebra, a theory subsequently much developed by him and his student E. R. Kolchin.[5]

He is known for his work on characterizing the indefinite integrals that can be solved in closed form, for his work on the theory of ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations, for beginning the study of differential algebraic groups,[1][2] and for the method of characteristic sets used in the solution of systems of polynomial equations.

Despite his great achievements, he was never awarded any prize for his work, a fact which he resented, as he felt he was underappreciated. He once composed the following epitaph for himself:[6]

Here at your feet J. F. Ritt lies;
He never won the Bôcher prize.

Selected works

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Joseph Ritt", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Smith, Paul A. (1956), Joseph Fels Ritt 1893–1951: A Biographical Memoir (PDF), United States National Academy of Sciences.
  3. ↑ Lorch, E. R. (1951), "Obituary : Joseph Fels Ritt", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 57 (4): 307–318, doi:10.1090/S0002-9904-1951-09529-4.
  4. ↑ Joseph Ritt at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  5. ↑ Kondratieva, M. V. (1998). Differential and Difference Dimension Polynomials. Springer Science & Business Media. p. vii (preface). ISBN 978-0-7923-5484-0.
  6. ↑ Peter L. Duren; Richard Askey; Uta C. Merzbach; Harold M. Edwards (1989). A Century of Mathematics in America, Part III. American Mathematical Society. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-8218-0136-9.
  7. ↑ Thomas, J. M. (1934). "Review: Differential Equations from the Algebraic Standpoint by J. F. Ritt" (PDF). Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 40 (3): 197–200. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1934-05808-7.
  8. ↑ Cohen, L. W. (1950). "Review: J. F. Ritt, Theory of functions". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 56 (2): 209–211. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1950-09395-1.
  9. ↑ Lorch, E. R. (1948). "Review: Integration in finite terms by J. F. Ritt" (PDF). Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 54, Part 1 (11): 1090–1092.
  10. ↑ van der Waerden, B. L. (1950). "Review: Differential Algebra by J. F. Ritt" (PDF). Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 56 (6): 521–523. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1950-09434-8.