Alexander Grothendieck

Alexander Grothendieck
Alexander Grothendieck in Montréal, 1970
Born(1928-03-28)28 March 1928
Berlin, Prussia, Germany
Died13 November 2014(2014-11-13) (aged 86)
Saint-Lizier, Ariège, France
Nationality
Alma mater
Known forRenewing algebraic geometry and synthesis between it and number theory and topology
List of things named after Alexander Grothendieck
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsFunctional analysis
Algebraic geometry
Homological algebra
Institutions
ThesisProduits tensoriels topologiques et espaces nucléaires (1953)
Doctoral advisors
Doctoral students

Alexander Grothendieck, later Alexandre Grothendieck in French (/ˈɡroʊtəndiːk/; German: [ˌalɛˈksandɐ ˈɡʁoːtn̩ˌdiːk] ⓘ; French: [ɡʁɔtɛndik]; 28 March 1928 – 13 November 2014), was a German-born French mathematician who became the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry.[7][8] His research extended the scope of the field and added elements of commutative algebra, homological algebra, sheaf theory, and category theory to its foundations, while his so-called "relative" perspective led to revolutionary advances in many areas of pure mathematics.[7][9] He is considered by many to be the greatest mathematician of the twentieth century.[10][11]

Grothendieck began his productive and public career as a mathematician in 1949. In 1958, he was appointed a research professor at the Institut des hautes études scientifiques (IHÉS) and remained there until 1970, when, driven by personal and political convictions, he left following a dispute over military funding. He received the Fields Medal in 1966 for advances in algebraic geometry, homological algebra, and K-theory.[12] He later became professor at the University of Montpellier[1] and, while still producing relevant mathematical work, he withdrew from the mathematical community and devoted himself to political and religious pursuits (first Buddhism and later, a more Catholic Christian vision).[13] In 1991, he moved to the French village of Lasserre in the Pyrenees, where he lived in seclusion, still working on mathematics and his philosophical and religious thoughts until his death in 2014.[14]

  1. ^ a b Scharlau 2008.
  2. ^ Cartier et al. 2007, p. 7.
  3. ^ Cartier 2004.
  4. ^ a b Douroux 2012.
  5. ^ Cartier 2004, p. 10, footnote 12.
  6. ^ Kleinert 2007.
  7. ^ a b Jackson 2004b.
  8. ^ Bruce Weber; Julie Rehmeyer (14 November 2014). "Alexander Grothendieck, Math Enigma, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022.
  9. ^ Mumford, David; Tate, John (2015). "Alexander Grothendieck (1928–2014) Mathematician who rebuilt algebraic geometry". Nature. 517 (7534): 272. Bibcode:2015Natur.517..272M. doi:10.1038/517272a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 25592527.
  10. ^ "Guardian obituary". Independent.co.uk.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Fields Medals 1966". mathunion.org. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  13. ^ Scharlau, Winfried. "Who is Alexander Grothendieck? Anarchy, Mathematics, Spirituality, Solitude" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  14. ^ Ruelle 2007, p. 40.