Lev Schnirelmann

Lev G. Schnirelmann
Born (1905-01-02)January 2, 1905
Gomel, Russian Empire
Died September 24, 1938(1938-09-24) (aged 33)
Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Nationality Russian
Alma mater Moscow State University
Known for Lusternik–Schnirelmann category
Schnirelmann density
Schnirelmann's constant
Schnirelmann's theorem
Scientific career
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Steklov Mathematical Institute
Doctoral advisor Nikolai Luzin

Lev Genrikhovich Schnirelmann (also Shnirelman, Shnirel'man; Лев Ге́нрихович Шнирельма́н; January 2, 1905 – September 24, 1938) was a Soviet mathematician who worked on number theory, topology and differential geometry.

He sought to prove Goldbach's conjecture. In 1930, using the Brun sieve, he proved that any natural number greater than 1 can be written as the sum of not more than C prime numbers, where C is an effectively computable constant.[1][2]

His other fundamental work is joint with Lazar Lyusternik. Together, they developed the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category, as it is called now, based on the previous work by Henri Poincaré, David Birkhoff, and Marston Morse. The theory gives a global invariant of spaces, and has led to advances in differential geometry and topology. They also proved the theorem of the three geodesics, that a Riemannian manifold topologically equivalent to a sphere has at least three simple closed geodesics.

Schnirelmann graduated from Moscow State University (1925) and then worked in Steklov Mathematical Institute (1934–1938). His advisor was Nikolai Luzin.

According to Pontryagin's memoir, Schnirelmann committed suicide in Moscow.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schnirelmann, L.G. (1930). "On the additive properties of numbers", first published in Proceedings of the Don Polytechnic Institute in Novocherkassk (in Russian), vol XIV (1930), pp. 3–27, and reprinted in Uspekhi Matematicheskikh Nauk (in Russian), 1939, no. 6, 9–25.
  2. ↑ Schnirelmann, L.G. (1933). First published as "Über additive Eigenschaften von Zahlen" in Mathematische Annalen (in German), vol 107 (1933), 649-690, and reprinted as "On the additive properties of numbers" in Uspekhi Matematicheskikh Nauk (in Russian), 1940, no. 7, 7–46.
  3. ↑ http://ega-math.narod.ru/LSP/book.htm

Further reading

  • Demidov, S. S. (2007). "The Moscow School of the Theory of Functions in the 1930s". Golden Years of Moscow Mathematics (Second ed.). American Mathematical Society. pp. 35–54. ISBN 978-0-8218-4261-4.
  • Lev Schnirelmann at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  • O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Lev Schnirelmann", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews .
  • Lev Genrihovich Schnirelmann, a popular article by V. Tikhomirov and V. Uspensky (in Russian)


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