Per Enflo

Per Enflo
Enflo in 1972
Born (1944-05-20) 20 May 1944 (age 80)
Alma materStockholm University
Known forApproximation problem
Schauder basis
Hilbert's fifth problem (infinite-dimensional)
uniformly convex renorms of super-reflexive Banach spaces
embedding metric spaces (unbounded distortion of cube)
"Concentration" of polynomials at low degree
Invariant subspace problem
AwardsMazur's "live goose" for solving "Scottish Book" Problem 153
Scientific career
FieldsFunctional analysis
Operator theory
Analytic number theory
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Berkeley
Stanford University
École Polytechnique, Paris
The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Kent State University
Doctoral advisorHans Rådström
Doctoral studentsAngela Spalsbury
Bruce Reznick

Per H. Enflo (Swedish: [ˈpæːr ˈěːnfluː]; born 20 May 1944) is a Swedish mathematician working primarily in functional analysis, a field in which he solved problems that had been considered fundamental. Three of these problems had been open for more than forty years:[1]

In solving these problems, Enflo developed new techniques which were then used by other researchers in functional analysis and operator theory for years. Some of Enflo's research has been important also in other mathematical fields, such as number theory, and in computer science, especially computer algebra and approximation algorithms.

Enflo works at Kent State University, where he holds the title of University Professor. Enflo has earlier held positions at the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, École Polytechnique, (Paris) and The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

Enflo is also a concert pianist.

  1. ^ Page 586 in Halmos 1990.
  2. ^ Per Enflo: A counterexample to the approximation problem in Banach spaces. Acta Mathematica vol. 130, no. 1, Juli 1973
  3. ^ *Enflo, Per (1976). "On the invariant subspace problem in Banach spaces". Séminaire Maurey--Schwartz (1975--1976) Espaces Lp, applications radonifiantes et géométrie des espaces de Banach, Exp. Nos. 14-15. Centre Math., École Polytech., Palaiseau. p. 7. MR 0473871.