Vladimir Arnold - Short curriculum vitae#


Vladimir Igorevich Arnold was born on June 12, 1937 in Odessa in the former USSR. He entered Moscow State University in 1954 and took his first degree in 1959. He was awarded the Candidate's Degree (equivalent to a PhD.) in 1961 for a thesis which solved a version of Hilbert's 13th Problem.

In 1900, the German mathematician, David Hilbert, presented a collection of problems at the Mathematical Congress in Paris with 23 then unsolved problems. One of these, the 13th, involved solving the general seventh degree equation using functions of two variables. Vladimir Arnold solved Hilbert's 13th problem at the age of 19.

In 1965 Arnold became Professor of Mechanics at Moscow State University, where he remained until 1986, when he took up a position at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics in Moscow. Because of a conflict with the Soviet authorities, he was unable to leave the Soviet Union from that time until the late 1980s.

In 1974, the Soviet Union opposed the award of the Fields Medal, the foremost recognition of work in mathematics, to Vladimir Arnold so that he is one of the most prominent mathematicians never to receive the prize, which is often compared with the Nobel Prize. However, in the course of his life, Vladimir Arnold received almost every other international mathematics prize as well as a number of doctorates and honorary degrees from all over the world. In 2001, he was finally awarded the Wolf prize "for his deep and influential work in a multitude of areas of mathematics, including dynamical systems, differential equations and singularity theory".

Vladimir Arnold passed away on 3 June 2010 (aged 72).

Obituaries in New York Times and Telegraph

Tribute to Vladimir Arnold(info) by Boris Khesin and Serge Tabachnikov (http://www.math.toronto.edu/)

Curriculum vitae#


Date of birth: 12 June 1937

Education:
  • 1954-1961 Faculty of Mathematics, Moscow State University, Moscow USSR
  • MS Diploma work: "On mappings of circle to itself"; under supervision of Prof. A.N.Kolmogorov (1959)
  • PhD Thesis: "On the representation of continuous functions of 3 variables by the superpositions of continuous functions of 2 variables", under supervision of prof. A.N.Kolmogorov; Jury - prof. A.G.Vitushkin and prof. L.V.Keldysh (1961)
  • ScD Thesis: "Small denominators and stability problems in classical and celestial mechanics"; profs. N.N.Bogoljubov, V.M.Volosov, G.N.Duboshin (1963)

Member of Academies:
  • Honorary member of London Math. Soc. (1976)
  • French Acad of Sc. (1983)
  • National USA (1984)
  • USSR corresponding member (1986), member (1990)
  • Arts and Sciences USA (1987)
  • Royal Soc. Lond. (1988)
  • Acad. Lincei Roma (1988)
  • American Philosoph. Soc. (1989)
  • Russian Acad. of Natural Sciences (1991)

Doctor Honoris causa:
  • Univ. P. et M. Curie Paris (1979)
  • Utrecht (1991)
  • Warwick (Coventry) (1988)
  • Bologna (1991)

Mathematical Prizes:
  • Moscow Math. Soc. Prize for young mathematicians (1958)
  • Lenin Prize (with Kolmogorov) (1965)
  • Crafoord Prize of the Swedish Acad. (with L. Nirenberg) (1982)

Employment:
  • 1961-1986 Moscow State University, Mech. Math. faculty : assistent, dozent, professor
  • 1986-2010 Steklov Mathematical Inst., Moscow
  • 1993-2004, Universite' Paris 9, France

Arnold's relationship with authorities was so bad that, in 1974, the Soviet Union opposed the award to him of the Fields Medal, the foremost recognition of work in mathematics. This resulted in Arnold being one of the most prominent mathematicians never to receive the prize, often compared with the Nobel. He did, however, receive virtually every other international mathematics prize as well as numerous doctorates and honorary degrees from around the world. He was awarded the Wolf prize in 2001 "for his deep and influential work in a multitude of areas of mathematics, including dynamical systems, differential equations and singularity theory".

Vladimir Igorevich Arnold was born on June 12 1937 in Odessa, then part of the USSR and now in Ukraine. Several generations of his family had been mathematicians. He entered Moscow State University in 1954 and took his first degree in 1959. His Candidate's Degree (equivalent to a PhD.) was awarded in 1961 for a thesis which solved a version of Hilbert's 13th Problem.

In 1900 the German mathematician, David Hilbert, had presented a list of 23 then unsolved problems to a Congress in Paris. One of these, the 13th, involved solving the general seventh degree equation using functions of two variables. By solving the problem, Arnold secured his reputation while still in his early twenties.

In 1965 Arnold became Professor of Mechanics at Moscow State University, where he remained until 1986, when he took up a position at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics in Moscow. Having upset the Soviet authorities in the 1960s, he was unable to leave the Soviet Union from that time until the late 1980s. This enforced stability perhaps contributed to his belief that American mathematicians spend their time travelling to conferences whereas the Russians sit at home, working hard to prove fundamental theorems destined forever to remain the cornerstones of mathematics.

Indeed, Arnold's relationship with authorities was so bad that, in 1974, the Soviet Union opposed the award to him of the Fields Medal, the foremost recognition of work in mathematics. This resulted in Arnold being one of the most prominent mathematicians never to receive the prize, often compared with the Nobel. He did, however, receive virtually every other international mathematics prize as well as numerous doctorates and honorary degrees from around the world. He was awarded the Wolf prize in 2001 "for his deep and influential work in a multitude of areas of mathematics, including dynamical systems, differential equations and singularity theory".

Imprint Privacy policy « This page (revision-16) was last changed on Tuesday, 2. September 2014, 12:29 by Nowak Aleksandra
  • operated by