Mathematician Perelman Yakov: contribution to science. Famous Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Mathematician Perelman is a very famous person, despite the fact that he leads a solitary life and avoids the press in every possible way. His proof of the Poincare conjecture put him on a par with the greatest scientists in world history. The mathematician Perelman refused many awards provided by the scientific community. This man lives very modestly and is completely devoted to science. Of course, it is worth telling about it and its discovery in detail.

Father of Grigory Perelman

June 13, 1966 was born Grigory Yakovlevich Perelman, mathematician. There are few photos of him in the public domain, but the most famous ones are presented in this article. He was born in Leningrad, the cultural capital of our country. His father was an electrical engineer. He had nothing to do with science, as many believe.

Yakov Perelman

It is widely believed that Grigory is the son of Yakov Perelman, a well-known popularizer of science. However, this is a misconception, because he died inbesieged Leningrad in March 1942, so he could not be the father of a great mathematician. This man was born in Bialystok, a city that used to belong to the Russian Empire and is now part of Poland. Yakov Isidorovich was born in 1882.

Yakov Perelman, which is very interesting, was also attracted by mathematics. In addition, he was fond of astronomy and physics. This man is considered the founder of entertaining science, as well as one of the first who wrote works in the genre of popular science literature. He is the creator of the book "Live Mathematics". Perelman wrote many other books. In addition, his bibliography includes more than a thousand articles. As for such a book as "Live Mathematics", Perelman presents in it various puzzles related to this science. Many of them are designed in the form of short stories. This book is primarily aimed at teenagers.

In one respect, another book is especially interesting, the author of which is Yakov Perelman ("Entertaining Mathematics"). Trillion - do you know what this number is? This is 10²¹. In the USSR, for a long time, two scales existed in parallel - "short" and "long". According to Perelman, "short" was used in financial calculations and everyday life, and "long" - in scientific works on physics and astronomy. So, a trillion on a "short" scale does not exist. 10^{21 is called a sextillion in it. These scales are generally significantdiffer.}

However, we will not dwell on this in detail and move on to a story about the contribution to science, which was made by Grigory Yakovlevich, and not by Yakov Isidorovich, whose achievements were less modest. By the way, it was not his well-known namesake who instilled in Grigory a love for science.

Perelman's mother and her influence on Grigory Yakovlevich

The mother of the future scientist taught mathematics at a vocational school. In addition, she was a talented violinist. Probably, Grigory Yakovlevich adopted his love for mathematics, as well as for classical music, from her. Both equally attracted Perelman. When he faced the choice of where to enter - to the conservatory or to a technical university, he could not decide for a long time. Who knows who Grigory Perelman could become if he decided to get a musical education.

The childhood of the future scientist

From a young age, Gregory was distinguished by literate speech, both written and oral. He often amazed teachers at school with this. By the way, before the 9th grade, Perelman studied at a secondary school, apparently typical, of which there are so many on the outskirts. And then teachers from the Palace of Pioneers noticed a talented young man. He was taken to courses for gifted children. This contributed to the development of Perelman's unique talents.

Olympiad victory, graduation from school

From now on, the milestone of victories for Grigory begins. In 1982 he received a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad held in Budapest. Perelman participated in it together witha team of Soviet schoolchildren. He received a full score, solving all the problems flawlessly. Gregory graduated from the eleventh grade of the school in the same year. The very fact of participation in this prestigious Olympiad opened the doors of the best educational institutions of our country for him. But Grigory Perelman not only participated in it, but also received a gold medal.

It is not surprising that he was enrolled without exams at the Leningrad State University, at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics. By the way, Gregory, oddly enough, did not receive a gold medal at school. This was prevented by the assessment in physical education. Passing sports standards at that time was mandatory for everyone, including those who could hardly imagine themselves at the pole for jumping or at the bar. In other subjects, he studied at five.

Studying at Leningrad State University

Over the next few years, the future scientist continued his education at Leningrad State University. He participated, and with great success, in various mathematical competitions. Perelman even managed to get the prestigious Lenin Scholarship. So he became the owner of 120 rubles - a lot of money at that time. He must have been doing well at the time.

It must be said that the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of this university, which is now called St. Petersburg, was one of the best in Russia in the Soviet years. In 1924, for example, V. Leontiev graduated from it. Almost immediately after completing his studies, he received the Nobel Prize in Economics. This scientist is even called the father of the American economy. Leonid Kantorovich, the only domestic laureate of this award,who received it for his contribution to this science, was a professor of mathematics.

Continuing education, living in the USA

After graduating from Leningrad State University, Grigory Perelman entered the Steklov Mathematical Institute to continue his postgraduate studies. Soon he flew to the USA in order to represent this educational institution. This country has always been considered a state of unlimited freedom, especially in Soviet times among the inhabitants of our country. Many dreamed of seeing her, but the mathematician Perelman was not one of them. It seems that the temptations of the West have gone unnoticed for him. The scientist still led a modest lifestyle, even somewhat ascetic. He ate sandwiches with cheese, which he washed down with kefir or milk. And of course, the mathematician Perelman worked hard. In particular, he was a teacher. The scientist met with his fellow mathematicians. America bored him after 6 years.

Return to Russia

Grigory returned to Russia, to his native institute. Here he worked for 9 years. It was at this time that he must have begun to understand that the road to "pure art" lies through isolation, isolation from society. Gregory decided to break off all his relations with his colleagues. The scientist decided to lock himself in his Leningrad apartment and start a grandiose work…

Topology

It is not easy to explain what Perelman proved in mathematics. Only great lovers of this science can fully understand the significance of his discovery. We will try to explain in plain language abouthypothesis put forward by Perelman. Grigory Yakovlevich was attracted by topology. This is a branch of mathematics, often also called geometry on a rubber sheet. Topology is the study of geometric shapes that persist when a shape is bent, twisted, or stretched. In other words, if it is absolutely elastically deformed - without gluing, cutting and tearing. Topology is very important for a discipline like mathematical physics. It gives an idea of the properties of space. In our case, we are talking about an infinite space that is constantly expanding, that is, about the Universe.

Poincare conjecture

The great French physicist, mathematician and philosopher J. A. Poincaré was the first to hypothesize this. This happened at the beginning of the 20th century. But it should be noted that he made an assumption, and did not give a proof. Perelman set himself the task of proving this hypothesis, deriving a logically verified mathematical solution a century later.

When talking about its essence, they usually begin as follows. Take the rubber disk. It should be pulled over the ball. Thus, you have a two-dimensional sphere. It is necessary that the circumference of the disk be collected at one point. For example, you can do this with a backpack by pulling it off and tying it with a cord. It turns out a sphere. Of course, for us it is three-dimensional, but from the point of view of mathematics it will be two-dimensional.

Then figurative projections and reasoning begin, which are difficult to understand for an unprepared person. One should now imagine a three-dimensional sphere, that is, a ball stretched over something that leavesinto another dimension. A three-dimensional sphere, according to the hypothesis, is the only existing three-dimensional object that can be pulled together by a hypothetical "hypercord" at one point. The proof of this theorem helps us understand what shape the Universe has. In addition, thanks to it, one can reasonably assume that the Universe is such a three-dimensional sphere.

The Poincare Hypothesis and the Big Bang Theory

It should be noted that this hypothesis is a confirmation of the Big Bang theory. If the universe is the only "figure" whose distinguishing feature is the ability to contract it into one point, this means that it can be stretched in the same way. The question arises: if it is a sphere, what is outside the universe? Is man, who is a secondary product belonging to the planet Earth alone and not even to the cosmos as a whole, capable of knowing this mystery? Those who are interested can be invited to read the works of another world-famous mathematician - Stephen Hawking. However, he cannot yet say anything concrete on this score. Let's hope that in the future another Perelman will appear and he will be able to solve this mystery, which torments the imagination of many. Who knows, maybe Grigory Yakovlevich himself will still be able to do it.

Nobel Prize in Mathematics

Perelman did not receive this prestigious award for his great achievement. Strange, isn't it? In fact, this is explained very simply, given that such an award simply does not exist. A whole legend has been created aboutthe reasons why Nobel deprived representatives of such an important science. To this day, the Nobel Prize in mathematics has not been awarded. Perelman would probably get it if it existed. There is a legend that the reason for Nobel's rejection of mathematicians is the following: it was to the representative of this science that his bride left him. Like it or not, it was only with the advent of the 21st century that justice finally prevailed. It was then that another prize for mathematicians appeared. Let's briefly talk about her story.

How did the Clay Institute Award come about?

David Hilbert, at a mathematical congress held in Paris in 1900, proposed a list of 23 problems to be solved in the new, 20th century. To date, 21 of them are already allowed. By the way, in 1970 Yu. V. Matiyasevich, a graduate of mathematics and mechanics at Leningrad State University, completed the solution of the 10th of these problems. At the beginning of the 21st century, the American Clay Institute compiled a list similar to it, consisting of seven problems in mathematics. They should have been solved already in the 21st century. A million dollar reward was announced for solving each of them. As early as 1904, Poincaré formulated one of these problems. He put forward the conjecture that in four-dimensional space all three-dimensional surfaces that are homotypically equivalent to a sphere are homeomorphic to it. In simple terms, if a three-dimensional surface is somewhat similar to a sphere, then it is possible to flatten it into a sphere. This statement by a scientist is sometimes called the formula of the universe because of its great importance in understanding complex physical processes, and also because the answer to it meanssolution to the question of the shape of the universe. It should also be said that this discovery plays a big role in the development of nanotechnology.

So, the Clay Mathematics Institute decided to choose the 7 most difficult problems. For the solution of each of them was promised a million dollars. And now Grigory Perelman appears with his discovery. The prize in mathematics, of course, goes to him. He was noticed quite quickly, since he has been publishing his work on foreign Internet resources since 2002.

How Perelman was awarded the Clay Award

So, in March 2010, Perelman was awarded the well-deserved award. The prize in mathematics meant receiving an impressive fortune, the size of which was $ 1 million. Grigory Yakovlevich was to receive it for proving the Poincaré theorem. However, in June 2010, the scientist ignored the mathematical conference held in Paris, which was supposed to present this award. And on July 1, 2010, Perelman announced his refusal publicly. Moreover, he never took the money due to him, despite all the requests.

Why did the mathematician Perelman refuse the prize?

Grigory Yakovlevich explained this by the fact that his conscience does not allow him to receive a million, put to several other mathematicians. The scientist noted that he had many reasons both to take the money and not to take it. It took him a long time to decide. Grigory Perelman, a mathematician, cited disagreement with the scientific community as the main reason for refusing the award. He noted that heunjust decisions. Grigory Yakovlevich stated that he believes that the contribution of Hamilton, a German mathematician, to the solution of this problem is no less than his.

By the way, a little later there was even an anecdote on this topic: mathematicians need to allocate millions more often, perhaps someone will still decide to take them. A year after Perelman's refusal, Demetrios Christodoul and Richard Hamilton were awarded the Shaw Prize. The amount of this award in mathematics is one million dollars. This award is sometimes also referred to as the Nobel Prize for the East. Hamilton received it for the creation of a mathematical theory. It was it that the Russian mathematician Perelman then developed in his works devoted to the proof of the Poincaré conjecture. Richard accepted this award.

Other awards refused by Grigory Perelman

By the way, in 1996 Grigory Yakovlevich was awarded a prestigious prize for young mathematicians from the European Mathematical Society. However, he refused to receive it.

10 years later, in 2006, the scientist was awarded the Fields medal for solving the Poincare conjecture. Grigory Yakovlevich refused her as well.

The Science magazine in 2006 called the proof of the hypothesis created by Poincaré the scientific breakthrough of the year. It should be noted that this is the first work in the field of mathematics that has earned such a title.

David Gruber and Sylvia Nazar published an article in 2006 called Manifold Destiny. It talks about Perelman, about his solution to the Poincaré problem. In addition, the article talks about the mathematical community and the existing in scienceethical principles. It also features a rare interview with Perelman. Much is also said about the criticism of Yau Xingtang, the Chinese mathematician. Together with his students, he tried to challenge the completeness of the evidence presented by Grigory Yakovlevich. In an interview, Perelman noted: "Those who violate ethical standards in science are not considered outsiders. People like me are who find themselves in isolation."

In September 2011, the mathematician Perelman also refused membership in the Russian Academy of Sciences. His biography is presented in a book published in the same year. From it you can learn more about the fate of this mathematician, although the information collected is based on the testimony of third parties. Its author is Masha Gessen. The book was compiled on the basis of interviews with classmates, teachers, colleagues and colleagues of Perelman. Sergei Rukshin, Grigory Yakovlevich's teacher, was critical of her.

Grigory Perelman today

And today he leads a secluded life. The mathematician Perelman ignores the press in every possible way. Where does he live? Until recently, Grigory Yakovlevich lived with his mother in Kupchino. And since 2014, the famous Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman has been in Sweden.