Lev Schnirelmann

Lev G. Schnirelmann
Born January 2, 1905
Gomel, Russian Empire
Died September 24, 1938 (aged 33)
Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Nationality Russian
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Steklov Mathematical Institute
Alma mater Moscow State University
Doctoral advisor Nikolai Luzin
Known for Schnirelmann density
Schnirelmann's constant
Schnirelmann's theorem

Lev Genrikhovich Schnirelmann (also Shnirelman, Shnirel'man; Лев Ге́нрихович Шнирельма́н; January 2, 1905 – September 24, 1938) was a Soviet mathematician who sought to prove Goldbach's conjecture. In 1930, using the Brun sieve, he proved that any natural number greater than 1 can be written as the sum of not more than C prime numbers, where C is an effectively computable constant.[1][2]

His other fundamental work is joint with Lazar Lyusternik. Together, they developed the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category, as it is called now, based on the previous work by Henri Poincaré, David Birkhoff, and Marston Morse. The theory gives a global invariant of spaces, and has led to advances in differential geometry and topology.

Schnirelmann graduated from Moscow State University (1925) and then worked in Steklov Mathematical Institute (1934–1938). His advisor was Nikolai Luzin.

According to Pontryagin's memoir, Schnirelmann committed suicide in Moscow.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schnirelmann, L.G. (1930). "On the additive properties of numbers", first published in Proceedings of the Don Polytechnic Institute in Novocherkassk (Russian), vol XIV (1930), pp. 3-27, and reprinted in Uspekhi Matematicheskikh Nauk (Russian), 1939, no. 6, 9–25.
  2. ↑ Schnirelmann, L.G. (1933). First published as "Über additive Eigenschaften von Zahlen" in Mathematische Annalen (in German), vol 107 (1933), 649-690, and reprinted as "On the additive properties of numbers" in Uspekhi Matematicheskikh Nauk (Russian), 1940, no. 7, 7–46.
  3. ↑ http://ega-math.narod.ru/LSP/book.htm

External links