Ernst Witt: Difference between revisions
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Witt was born on the island of [[Als (island)|Alsen]], then a part of the [[German Empire]]. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved the family to [[China]] to work as missionaries,<ref name="nine">{{cite book |last1=Segal |first1=Sanford L. |title=Mathematicians under the Nazis |date=23 November 2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-16463-2 |page=451 |language=en}}</ref> and he did not return to Europe until he was nine.<ref name="nine"/> |
Witt was born on the island of [[Als (island)|Alsen]], then a part of the [[German Empire]]. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved the family to [[China]] to work as missionaries,<ref name="nine">{{cite book |last1=Segal |first1=Sanford L. |title=Mathematicians under the Nazis |date=23 November 2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-16463-2 |page=451 |language=en}}</ref> and he did not return to Europe until he was nine.<ref name="nine"/> |
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After his schooling, Witt went to the [[University of Freiburg]] and the [[University of Göttingen]]. He joined the [[Nazi Party|NSDAP]] (Nazi Party) and was an active party member.<ref>According to Schappacher (letter in Mathematical Intelligencer 1996) it was most certainly him and not [[Oswald Teichmüller]], who attended [[Emmy Noether]]'s private seminar held in her house while wearing his [[Sturmabteilung|SA]]-uniform.</ref> Witt |
After his schooling, Witt went to the [[University of Freiburg]] and the [[University of Göttingen]]. He joined the [[Nazi Party|NSDAP]] (Nazi Party) and was an active party member.<ref>According to Schappacher (letter in Mathematical Intelligencer 1996) it was most certainly him and not [[Oswald Teichmüller]], who attended [[Emmy Noether]]'s private seminar held in her house while wearing his [[Sturmabteilung|SA]]-uniform.</ref> Witt was awarded [[Ph.D.]] at the University of Göttingen in 1934 that was supervised by [[Gustav Herglotz]] with [[Emmy Noether]] suggesting the top for the doctorate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frei |first1=Günther |last2=Lemmermeyer |first2=Franz |last3=Roquette |first3=Peter J. |title=Emil Artin and Helmut Hasse: The Correspondence 1923-1958 |date=16 January 2014 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |location=Gottigen |isbn=978-3-0348-0715-9 |page=439 |language=en}}</ref> He later became a lecturer. He was then a member of a team led by [[Helmut Hasse]]. During [[World War II]] he joined a group of five mathematicians, recruited by [[Wilhelm Fenner]], and which included [[Georg Aumann]], [[Alexander Aigner]], [[Oswald Teichmüller]], Johann Friedrich Schultze and their leader professor [[Wolfgang Franz (mathematician)|Wolfgang Franz]], to form the backbone of the new mathematical research department in the late 1930s, which would eventually be called: Section IVc of [[Cipher Department of the High Command of the Wehrmacht]] (abbr. OKW/Chi).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7sNVKDp-yiJNjE4YTIyOTctNGFlZi00NTliLWEwZWUtOGYxYzEyMjk1NGE1/view|title=Army Security Agency: DF-187 The Career of Wilhelm Fenner with Special Regard to his activity in the field of Cryptography and Cryptanalysis (PDF) |page = 7|date=1 December 1949 |website=Google Drive |access-date=30 March 2016}}</ref><ref>TICOM reports DF-187 A-G and DF-176, ‘European Axis Signal Intelligence in World War II’ vol 2</ref> |
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From 1937 until 1979, he taught at the [[University of Hamburg]]. He died in Hamburg in 1991, shortly after his 80th birthday. |
From 1937 until 1979, he taught at the [[University of Hamburg]]. He died in Hamburg in 1991, shortly after his 80th birthday. |
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Revision as of 11:26, 11 November 2022
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Ernst Witt | |
|---|---|
 Ernst Witt in Nice, 1970 | |
| Born | 26 June 1911 |
| Died | 3 July 1991 (aged 80) |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen |
| Known for | Witt algebra Witt group Witt's theorem Witt vector Bourbaki–Witt theorem Hasse–Witt matrix Poincaré–Birkhoff–Witt theorem |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Hamburg |
| Doctoral advisor | Emmy Noether |
| Doctoral students | |
Ernst Witt (26 June 1911 – 3 July 1991) was a German mathematician, one of the leading algebraists of his time.[1]
Biography
Witt was born on the island of Alsen, then a part of the German Empire. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved the family to China to work as missionaries,[2] and he did not return to Europe until he was nine.[2]
After his schooling, Witt went to the University of Freiburg and the University of Göttingen. He joined the NSDAP (Nazi Party) and was an active party member.[3] Witt was awarded Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen in 1934 that was supervised by Gustav Herglotz with Emmy Noether suggesting the top for the doctorate.[4] He later became a lecturer. He was then a member of a team led by Helmut Hasse. During World War II he joined a group of five mathematicians, recruited by Wilhelm Fenner, and which included Georg Aumann, Alexander Aigner, Oswald Teichmüller, Johann Friedrich Schultze and their leader professor Wolfgang Franz, to form the backbone of the new mathematical research department in the late 1930s, which would eventually be called: Section IVc of Cipher Department of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (abbr. OKW/Chi).[5][6]
From 1937 until 1979, he taught at the University of Hamburg. He died in Hamburg in 1991, shortly after his 80th birthday.
Work
Witt's work has been highly influential. His invention of the Witt vectors clarifies and generalizes the structure of the p-adic numbers. It has become fundamental to p-adic Hodge theory.
Witt was the founder of the theory of quadratic forms over an arbitrary field. He proved several of the key results, including the Witt cancellation theorem. He defined the Witt ring of all quadratic forms over a field, now a central object in the theory.
The Poincaré–Birkhoff–Witt theorem is basic to the study of Lie algebras. In algebraic geometry, the Hasse–Witt matrix of an algebraic curve over a finite field determines the cyclic étale coverings of degree p of a curve in characteristic p.
In the 1970s, Witt claimed that in 1940 he had discovered what would eventually be named the "Leech lattice" many years before John Leech discovered it in 1965, but Witt did not publish his discovery and the details of exactly what he did are unclear; see his collected works (Witt 1998, pp. 328–329).
See also
- Leech lattice
- Verschiebung operator
- Wedderburn's little theorem
- List of things named after Ernst Witt
Notes
- ^ Kersten, Ina (20 October 1993). "Ernst Witt 1911-1991" (PDF). Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung. 95: 166–180.
- ^ a b Segal, Sanford L. (23 November 2014). Mathematicians under the Nazis. Princeton University Press. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-691-16463-2.
- ^ According to Schappacher (letter in Mathematical Intelligencer 1996) it was most certainly him and not Oswald Teichmüller, who attended Emmy Noether's private seminar held in her house while wearing his SA-uniform.
- ^ Frei, Günther; Lemmermeyer, Franz; Roquette, Peter J. (16 January 2014). Emil Artin and Helmut Hasse: The Correspondence 1923-1958. Gottigen: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 439. ISBN 978-3-0348-0715-9.
- ^ "Army Security Agency: DF-187 The Career of Wilhelm Fenner with Special Regard to his activity in the field of Cryptography and Cryptanalysis (PDF)". Google Drive. 1 December 1949. p. 7. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ TICOM reports DF-187 A-G and DF-176, ‘European Axis Signal Intelligence in World War II’ vol 2
References
- Schappacher, Norbert; Scholz, Erhard (1996). "How to Write about Teichmüller". Mathematical Intelligencer. 18 (1): 5–6.
- Witt, Ernst (1998), Kersten, Ina (ed.), Collected papers. Gesammelte Abhandlungen, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-57061-5, MR 1643949
External links
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Ernst Witt", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Ernst Witt at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
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