I M Gelfand 1913–2009

Opalg · #1 $Old$ November 10th, 2009, 07:32 AM

Yesterday's Guardian has a whole-page obituary of Israel Gelfand, who died last month.

Israel Gelfand obituary | Science | The Guardian

Gelfand and his collaborator Mark Naimark, along with John von Neumann, were the founders of the theory of operator algebras (of which my username is an abbreviation). This has developed into one of the more active strands of mathematical research in the past half century, with important applications in noncommutative geometry, knot theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and the representation theory of topological groups.

I met Gelfand a few years ago, at the International Congress of Mathematics. His mind was as sharp as ever, although by then he was well into his nineties. He was eagerly listening to young mathematicians explaining their work to him, and giving them ideas and advice.

Drexel28 · #2 $Old$ November 10th, 2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Opalg $View Post$

Yesterday's Guardian has a whole-page obituary of Israel Gelfand, who died last month.

Israel Gelfand obituary | Science | The Guardian

Gelfand and his collaborator Mark Naimark, along with John von Neumann, were the founders of the theory of operator algebras (of which my username is an abbreviation). This has developed into one of the more active strands of mathematical research in the past half century, with important applications in noncommutative geometry, knot theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and the representation theory of topological groups.

I met Gelfand a few years ago, at the International Congress of Mathematics. His mind was as sharp as ever, although by then he was well into his nineties. He was eagerly listening to young mathematicians explaining their work to him, and giving them ideas and advice.

$e^{\pi}$ ?

Opalg · #3 $Old$ November 10th, 2009, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drexel28 $View Post$

$e^{\pi}$ ?

No, $e^\pi$ is associated with Alexander Gelfond, a different mathematician. Gelfond died in 1968.

Drexel28 · #4 $Old$ November 10th, 2009, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Opalg $View Post$

No, $e^\pi$ is associated with Alexander Gelfond, a different mathematician. Gelfond died in 1968.

I'm sorry. My mistake.

Focus · #5 $Old$ December 10th, 2009, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Opalg $View Post$

I met Gelfand a few years ago, at the International Congress of Mathematics. His mind was as sharp as ever, although by then he was well into his nineties. He was eagerly listening to young mathematicians explaining their work to him, and giving them ideas and advice.

I am always jealous when people say these sorts of things.

arbolis · #6 $Old$ December 21st, 2009, 07:07 AM

A sad news.
I first thought you were talking about Boris Gelfand (The chess games of Boris Gelfand), from Israel. Also the I M in the title reminded me of International Master, although Gelfand is a GM.