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Józef H. Przytycki

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Józef Przytycki
Józef Przytycki at Oberwolfach in 2008
Born(1953-10-14)October 14, 1953
Alma materUniversity of Warsaw
Columbia University
Known forHOMFLYPT polynomial
Skein modules
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsGeorge Washington University
Thesis Incompressible Surfaces in 3-Manifolds  (1981)
Doctoral advisorJoan Birman
Websitehome.gwu.edu/~przytyck/

Józef Henryk Przytycki (/ˌjuːsəf pʃəˈtɪski/; Polish: [ˈjuzɛf pʂɨˈtɨt͡ski]; born 14 October 1953 in Warsaw, Poland), is a mathematician specializing in the fields of knot theory and topology.

Biography

A native of Poland, Przytycki received a Master of Science degree in mathematics from University of Warsaw in 1977. After emigrating to the United States, he obtained in 1981 a Ph.D. in mathematics from Columbia University, where his advisor was Joan Birman. Przytycki then returned to Poland, where he became an assistant professor at the University of Warsaw. From 1986 to 1995 he held visiting positions at the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, Michigan State University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the University of California, Riverside, Odense University, and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1995 he joined the Mathematics Department at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., rising to the rank of professor in 1999.[1] According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project, he has supervised 13 Ph.D. students (as of 2019).[2] He has authored and co-authored many mathematical publications, including more than 100 research papers, 25 conference proceedings and 2 books, having over 1,470 citations on MathSciNet.[3]

In 1987, Przytycki and Pawel Traczyk published a paper,[4] which included a description of what is now called the HOMFLY(PT) polynomial. Postal delays prevented Przytycki and Traczyk from receiving full recognition alongside the other six discoverers. Przytycki also introduced skein modules in a paper written in 1989 and published in 1991;[5] see also his entry in the online Encyclopedia of Mathematics.[6]

Every semester since 1995, Przytycki has co-organized the conference Knots in Washington. He also co-organized several international Knot Theory conferences in Europe, for example Knots in Poland (1995, 2003 and 2010), Knots in Hellas (1998 and 2016), and the Advanced School and Conference on Knot Theory and its Applications to Physics and Biology, Trieste, Italy (2009).

Józef Przytycki is married to computational biologist and mathematician Teresa Przytycka (born 1958). They have two sons.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Józef Henryk Przytycki (December 2018). "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Józef H. Przytycki at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  3. ^ "Józef H. Przytycki". MathSciNet. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Przytycki, Józef H.; Traczyk, Pawel (1987). "Invariants of links of Conway type". Kobe Journal of Mathematics. 4: 115–139. MR 0945888.
  5. ^ Przytycki, Józef H. (1991). "Skein modules of 3-manifolds". Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Mathematics. 39 (1–2): 91–100. arXiv:math/0602264. MR 1194712.
  6. ^ "Skein module". Encyclopedia of Mathematics.