Oskar Perron | |
|---|---|
 Perron in 1948 Photo courtesy MFO | |
| Born | 7 May 1880 |
| Died | 22 February 1975 (aged 94) |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Munich |
| Known for | Perron's paradox Perron effect Perron's formula Perron integral Perron method Perron number Perron tree Perron's irreducibility criterion Perron–Frobenius theorem Moessner's theorem |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Heidelberg University of Munich |
| Doctoral advisor | Ferdinand von Lindemann |
| Doctoral students | Helmut Röhrl Georgi Bradistilov |
Oskar Perron (7 May 1880 – 22 February 1975) was a German mathematician.
He was a professor at the University of Heidelberg from 1914 to 1922 and at the University of Munich from 1922 to 1951. He made numerous contributions to differential equations and partial differential equations, including the Perron method to solve the Dirichlet problem for elliptic partial differential equations. He wrote an encyclopedic book on continued fractions Die Lehre von den Kettenbrüchen. He introduced Perron's paradox to illustrate the danger of assuming that the solution of an optimization problem exists:
- Let N be the largest positive integer. If N > 1, then N2 > N, contradicting the definition of N. Hence N = 1.