George Yuri Rainich: Difference between revisions
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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Rainich studied mathematics from 1904 to 1908 in [[Odessa]], in Göttingen (1905–1906), and in [[Munich]] (1906–1907), eventually obtaining his doctorate (Magister of Pure Mathematics) in 1913 from the [[University of Kazan]]. After teaching at the University of Kazan, in 1922 (via Istanbul), he emigrated with his wife to the United States. After three years at [[Johns Hopkins University]], he joined the faculty of the [[University of Michigan]], where he remained until his retirement in 1956. After his retirement as professor emeritus, he was in 1957 at Brown University as a member of the editorial staff of ''[[Mathematical Reviews]]'' and he was for several years a visiting professor at the [[University of Notre Dame]]. After the death of his wife in 1963, he returned to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and organized there a seminar on general relativity theory for physicists and mathematicians. |
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Rainich studied mathematics in [[Odessa]] and [[Munich]], eventually obtaining his doctorate in 1913 from the [[University of Kazan]]. In 1922, he emigrated to the United States, and after three years at [[Johns Hopkins University]], joined the faculty of the [[University of Michigan]], where he remained until his retirement in 1956. |
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Rainich's research centered on [[general relativity]] and early work toward a [[unified field theory]]. In 1924, Rainich found a set of equivalent conditions for a Lorentzian manifold to admit an interpretation as an exact non-null [[electrovacuum solution]] in general relativity; these are now known as the '''Rainich conditions'''. |
Rainich's research centered on [[general relativity]] and early work toward a [[unified field theory]]. In 1924, Rainich found a set of equivalent conditions for a Lorentzian manifold to admit an interpretation as an exact non-null [[electrovacuum solution]] in general relativity; these are now known as the '''Rainich conditions'''. |
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Revision as of 16:18, 28 September 2017
George Yuri Rainich (March 25, 1886 in Odessa – October 10, 1968) was a leading mathematical physicist in the early twentieth century.
Career
Rainich studied mathematics from 1904 to 1908 in Odessa, in Göttingen (1905–1906), and in Munich (1906–1907), eventually obtaining his doctorate (Magister of Pure Mathematics) in 1913 from the University of Kazan. After teaching at the University of Kazan, in 1922 (via Istanbul), he emigrated with his wife to the United States. After three years at Johns Hopkins University, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, where he remained until his retirement in 1956. After his retirement as professor emeritus, he was in 1957 at Brown University as a member of the editorial staff of Mathematical Reviews and he was for several years a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame. After the death of his wife in 1963, he returned to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and organized there a seminar on general relativity theory for physicists and mathematicians.
Rainich's research centered on general relativity and early work toward a unified field theory. In 1924, Rainich found a set of equivalent conditions for a Lorentzian manifold to admit an interpretation as an exact non-null electrovacuum solution in general relativity; these are now known as the Rainich conditions.
According to some sources, Peter Gabriel Bergmann brought Rainich's suggestion that algebraic topology (and knot theory in particular) should play a role in physics to the attention of John Archibald Wheeler, which shortly led to the Ph.D. thesis of Charles W. Misner. Another version of this tale replaces Bergmann with Hugh Everett, who was a fellow student of Misner at the time.
According to the Editor of The American Mathematical Monthly,[1][2] Rainich is the inventor of the Rabinowitsch trick, a clever argument to deduce the Hilbert Nullstellensatz from an easier special case. It is later explained[3] that Rainich was born Rabinowitsch, hence the Pseudonym.
Rainich's private papers are held at the University of Texas.
Students
Several of Rainich's Ph.D. students became famous:
- Ruel Vance Churchill (12 December 1899 - 31 October 1987) is well known to several generations of mathematics students as a coauthor of a standard textbook known as "Churchill & Brown."
- Marjorie Lee Browne (9 September 1914 – 19 October 1979) was one of the first African-American woman to receive a doctoral degree in mathematics in the U.S.
References
- "A Guide to the George Yuri Rainich Papers, 1941-1981". The Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved August 10, 2005.
- Gönner, Hubert F. M. "On the History of Unified Field Theories". Living Reviews in Relativity. Retrieved August 10, 2005.
- George Yuri Rainich at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- Rainich, G. Y. (1925). "Electrodynamics in general relativity". Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 17 (1). American Mathematical Society: 106. doi:10.2307/1989168. JSTOR 1989168.
- Rainich, G. Y. "Mathematics of relativity: lecture notes".
- Rainich, G. Y. (1950). Mathematics of relativity. p. 173.
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Citations
- ^ Palka, Bruce P. (May 2004). "Editor's Endnotes". The American Mathematical Monthly. 111 (5): 456–460. JSTOR 4145290.
- ^ Elencwajg, Georges. "MathOverflow answer - Pseudonyms of famous mathematicians".
- ^ Palka, Bruce P. (December 2004). "Editor's Endnotes". The American Mathematical Monthly. 111 (10): 927–929. JSTOR 4145123.
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