Mark Kac
| Mark Kac | |
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| Born | August 3, 1914 Krzemieniec, Russian Empire |
| Died | October 26, 1984 (aged 70) California, USA |
| Residence | U.S.A. |
| Citizenship | Poland, U.S.A. |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Cornell University Rockefeller University University of Southern California |
| Alma mater | Lwów University |
| Doctoral advisor | Hugo Steinhaus |
| Doctoral students | Harry Kesten William LeVeque William Newcomb Lonnie Cross Murray Rosenblatt Daniel Stroock |
| Known for | Feynman-Kac formula Erdős-Kac theorem |
| Notable awards | Birkhoff Prize (1978) |
Mark Kac (pronounced kahts, Polish: Marek Kac, b. 3 August 1914, Krzemieniec, Russian Empire, now in Ukraine; d. 26 October 1984, California, USA) was a Polish mathematician.[1] His main interest was probability theory. His question, "Can one hear the shape of a drum?" set off research into spectral theory, with the idea of understanding the extent to which the spectrum allows one to read back the geometry. (In the end, the answer was "no", in general.)
Kac completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at the Polish University of Lwów in 1937 under the direction of Hugo Steinhaus.[2] While there, he was a member of the Lwów School of Mathematics. After receiving his degree he began to look for a position abroad, and in 1938 was granted a scholarship from the Parnas Foundation which enabled him to go work in the United States. He arrived in New York City in November, 1938.[3] With the onset of World War II, Kac was able to remain in America, while his parents and brother who remained in Poland were murdered by the Germans in the mass executions in Krzemieniec (1942-43) for being Jewish.[4] From 1939 until 1961 he was at Cornell University, first as an instructor, then from 1943 as assistant professor and from 1947 as full professor.[5] While there, he became a naturalized US citizen in 1943. In 1961 he left Cornell and went to Rockefeller University in New York City. After twenty years there, he moved to the University of Southern California where he spent the rest of his career.
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[edit] Books
- Mark Kac and Stanisław Ulam: Mathematics and Logic: Retrospect and Prospects, Praeger, New York (1968) Dover paperback reprint.
- Mark Kac, Statistical Independence in Probability, Analysis and Number Theory, Carus Mathematical Monographs, Mathematical Association of America, 1969.
- Mark Kac, Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography, Harper and Row, New York, 1985. Sloan Foundation Series. Published posthumously with a memoriam note by Gian-Carlo Rota. Kac's distinction between an "ordinary genius" like Hans Bethe and a "magician" like Richard Feynman has been widely quoted. (Kac knew both at Cornell University.)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Obituary in Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 11 November 1984
- ^ Mark Kac at the Mathematics Genealogy Project.
- ^ Mark Kac, Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography, Harper and Row, New York, 1985. ISBN 0060154330
- ^ M Kac, Enigmas of chance : an autobiography (California, 1987)
- ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Mark Kac", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews, http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Kac.html.
[edit] External links
- 1914 births
- 1984 deaths
- 20th-century mathematicians
- Cornell University faculty
- Guggenheim Fellows
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Polish emigrants to the United States
- American mathematicians
- Presidents of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
- Probability theorists
- Researchers in stochastics
- Polish mathematicians
- Polish Jews
