Louis Joel Mordell (28 January 1888 - 12 March 1972) was a British mathematician, known for pioneering research in number theory. Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Number theory is the branch of Pure mathematics concerned with the properties of Numbers in general and Integers in particular as well as the wider classes He was born in Philadelphia, USA, in a Jewish family of Lithuanian extraction. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The United States of America —commonly referred to as the PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the He came in 1906 to Cambridge to take the scholarship examination for entrance to St John's College, and was successful in gaining a place and support. St John's College, an institution known formally as The Master Fellows and Scholars of the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge is a
Having taken third place in the Mathematical Tripos, he began independent research into particular diophantine equations: the question of integer points on the cubic curve, and special case of what is now called a Thue equation, the Mordell equation
- y2 = x3 + k. The Mathematical Tripos is the taught mathematics course at the University of Cambridge. In Mathematics, a Diophantine equation is an indeterminate Polynomial Equation that allows the variables to be Integers only In Mathematics, the n -dimensional integer lattice (or cubic lattice) denoted Z n, is the lattice in the In Mathematics, a cubic plane curve is a Plane algebraic curve C defined by a cubic equation F ( x, y, You might be looking for Thue–Siegel–Roth theorem. Thue's theorem is a mathematical Theorem first proved by Axel In Mathematics, a Mordell curve is an Elliptic curve y 2 = x 3 + k, with
He took an appointment at Birkbeck College, London in 1913. Birkbeck University of London, sometimes referred to by its former (and still legal name Birkbeck College or by the abbreviation BBK, is a constituent college During World War I he was involved in war work, but also produced one of his major results, proving in 1917 the multiplicative property of Ramanujan's tau-function. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Ramanujan tau function is the function \tau\mathbb{N}\to\mathbb{Z} defined by the following identity \sum_{n\geq 1}\tau(nq^n=q\prod_{n\geq 1}(1-q^n^{24} The proof was by means, in effect, of the Hecke operators, which had not yet been christened for Erich Hecke; it was, in retrospect, one of the major advances in modular form theory, beyond its status as an odd corner of the theory of special functions. In Mathematics, in particular in the theory of Modular forms a Hecke operator is a certain kind of 'averaging' operator that plays a significant role in the structure Erich Hecke ( September 20, 1887 &ndash February 13, 1947) was a German Mathematician. In Mathematics, a modular form is a (complex Analytic function on the Upper half-plane satisfying a certain kind of Functional equation and Special functions are particular mathematical functions which have more or less established names and notations due to their importance for the Mathematical analysis
In 1920 he took a teaching position in Manchester College of Technology, becoming the Fielden Reader in Pure Mathematics at the Victoria University of Manchester in 1922 and Professor in 1923. The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology ( UMIST) was a University based in the centre of the City of Manchester The Fielden Chair of Pure Mathematics is an endowed professorial position in the School of Mathematics University of Manchester, England. The Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester) was a University in Manchester, England. There he developed a third area of interest within number theory, geometry of numbers. In Number theory, the geometry of numbers is a topic and method arising from the work of Hermann Minkowski, on the relationship between Convex sets and His basic work on Mordell's theorem is from 1921/2, as is the formulation of the Mordell conjecture. In Mathematics, the Mordell–Weil theorem states that for an Abelian variety A over a Number field K, the group A ( In Number theory, the Mordell conjecture stated a basic result regarding the rational number solutions to Diophantine equations It was eventually proved by Gerd
He took British citizenship in 1929. In Manchester he also built up the department, offering posts to a number of outstanding mathematicians who had been forced from posts on the continent of Europe. He brought in Reinhold Baer, G. Reinhold Baer ( July 22 1902 – October 22 1979) was a German Mathematician, known for his work in algebra Billing, Paul Erdős, Chao Ko, Kurt Mahler, and Beniamino Segre. Paul Erdős ( Hungarian: Erdős Pál, in English occasionally Paul Erdos or Paul Erdös, March 26, 1913 &ndash Ke Zhao or Chao Ko ( April 12 1910 – November 8 2002 was a Chinese Mathematician born in, People's Republic of China. Kurt Mahler ( 26 July 1903, Krefeld, Germany – 25 February 1988, Canberra, Australia) was a mathematician Beniamino Segre ( 16 February 1903 - 2 October 1977) was an Italian mathematician who is remembered today as a major contributor to Algebraic He also recruited J. A. Todd, P. John Arthur Todd ( 23 August 1908 - 22 December 1994) was a British geometer Du Val, Harold Davenport, L. Harold Davenport ( 30 October 1907 – 9 June 1969) was an English mathematician known for his extensive work in Number theory C. Young, and invited distinguished visitors.
In 1945 he returned to Cambridge, and the Sadleirian Chair, as Head of Department, and officially retired in 1953. The Sadleirian Chair is a Professorship in Pure mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It was at this time that he had his only formal research students, of whom J. W. S. Cassels was one. John William Scott Cassels FRS (born July 11, 1922 in Durham) is a leading English Mathematician. His idea of supervising research was said to involve the suggestion that a proof of the transcendence of Euler-Mascheroni constant was probably worth a doctorate. In Mathematics, a transcendental number is a Complex number that is not algebraic, that is not a solution of a non-zero Polynomial equation The Euler–Mascheroni constant (also called the Euler constant) is a Mathematical constant recurring in analysis and Number theory, usually His book Diophantine Equations (1969) is based on lectures, and gives an idea of his discursive style.
See also
| Preceded by (none) |
Fielden Chair of Pure Mathematics 1922-1945 |
Succeeded by Max Newman |
External links
O'Connor, John J. In Mathematics, the Chowla–Mordell theorem is a result in Number theory determining cases where a Gauss sum is the Square root of a Prime The Fielden Chair of Pure Mathematics is an endowed professorial position in the School of Mathematics University of Manchester, England. Maxwell Herman Alexander Newman ( February 7 1897 &ndash February 22 1984) was a British Mathematician and Codebreaker & Robertson, Edmund F. , “Louis Mordell”, MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive is an award-winning website maintained by John J