Eugene Wigner - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Eugene WignerDennis GaborGeorge DantzigRichard BellmanJoseph-Louis LagrangeBy: Alexandra Silva

Famous Mathematicians and ScientistsSlide2

Eugene WignerBorn in Budapest, HungaryAt age 11, Wigner was sent to the Austrian mountains for several weeks where he first became interested in mathematics. Studied chemical engineering at Technische

Hochshule

in Berlin

Soon became interested in quantum mechanics, and became a professor at PrincetonHe later left Princeton and worked on the Manhattan ProjectThroughout the rest of his life, Wigner continued to teach and conduct his own research in mathematics, physics, and later philosophy.

(1902-1995)Slide3

Eugene Wigner: AccomplishmentsKnown for his work in physics:Wigner D-Matrix for angular momentumWigner–

Eckart

theorem in quantum mechanics

Wigner quasi-probability distributionWigner Semicircle Distribution in mathematicsWrote "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences” which discuses the relationships between mathematics and physics

Wigner witnessed the first nuclear reactor go critical in 1942.In 1962, won Nobel Prize in Physics

Fun Fact: In 1950, Eugene Wigner received an honorary degree in science from

Wash.U

.Slide4

Dennis GaborBorn in Budapest, HungaryFirst became interested in physics at age 15Originally wanted to study physics, but got a degree in electrical engineering instead at Technische

Hochschule

in Berlin

Fleeing the Nazis, Gabor left Germany in 1933 and went to England where he worked in several laboratories doing applied physics.Later became a professor at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London teaching applied physics

(1900-1979)Slide5

Dennis Gabor: AccomplishmentsMade several inventions including a high pressure quartz mercury lamp which was later used in street lampsGabor developed wavefront reconstruction, later known as holography. It took more than 10 years after Gabor developed holography for it’s practical applications to be realized (with the invention of the laser in 1964).

Won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971Slide6

George DantzigBorn in Portland, OregonSon of Tobias Dantzig, a Russian mathematicianReceived degrees in mathematics and physics from the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, and UC BerkeleyBriefly joined the air force during World War II, but later returned to Berkeley where he completed his Ph.D.

Later became a professor at UC Berkeley and Stanford teaching Operations Research

(1914-2005)Slide7

George Dantzig: AccomplishmentsKnown as the primary founder of Linear Programming (other founders were von Neumann and Kantorovich)Developed the idea of linear programming during his time in the Air Force after the Air Force challenged him to find a way mechanize the planning process of daily operations

Also known for creating the Simplex Method

Other accomplishments include work in nonlinear programming, sensitivity analysis, large-scale optimization, and programming under uncertainty

Won the National Medal of science in 1975Fun Fact: The story about Dantzig arriving late to class and then solving the previously unsolvable problems has become a common legendary story and even inspired the movie “Good Will Hunting.”Slide8

Richard BellmanBorn in Brooklyn, New YorkEarned a degree in Mathematics from Brooklyn College, and a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin-MadisonServed in the US Army in a Theoretical Physics Division group called Los Alamos

In 1942, while doing his doctoral research,

Bellman published

his first major work, the "Stability Theory of Differential Equations”Taught at Princeton for a few years and then worked at the Rand Corporation in California where he developed dynamic programming.

Later taught at USC teaching Medicine, Mathematics, and Electrical Engineering

(1920-1984)Slide9

Richard Bellman: AccomplishmentsInvented dynamic programming, also known as the Bellman Equation. Dynamic programming and the Bellman Equation are used to make complex problems more simple by breaking them down into small parts.Used in Control Theory and Economic Theory

Coined the term “Curse of Dimensionality” which refers

to

the “problem caused by the exponential increase in volume associated with adding extra dimensions to a (mathematical) space.” http

://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_dimensionalityIn 1979, won the IEEE medal of honor for his work in dynamic programming

Fun Fact:

After serving in the army, earned Ph.D.

in record time from

Princeton (

3 months)Slide10

Joseph-Louis LagrangeBorn in Italy, but considered to be FrenchEducated at the College of Turin in ItalyFirst became interested in mathematics at age 17 after reading a paper by Edmund HalleyBecame a professor of the Royal Artillery School in Turin in 1755 after impressing Euler with his mathematical work

Later went on to work at the Berlin Academy, replacing Euler in 1766

After the death of his wife, moved to Paris in 1787 to become a member of the

Académie des SciencesBecame the first professor of analysis in the

Ecole Polytechnique

(1736-1813)Slide11

Joseph-Louis Lagrange: AccomplishmentsWork in MathematicsMade several discoveries in the calculus of variations and is considered one its creatorsDeveloped equations for

extrema

of

functionals as well as the idea of Lagrange MultipliersInvented the method of variation of parameters for solving differential equations

Work in PhysicsContributions to the theory of vibrations of string and the propagation of sound

Studied the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn

Also worked on energy formulas in mechanics sometimes known as

Lagrangian

mechanics

While in Paris, worked on the metric system standardizing weights and measures

In 1808, was named by Napoleon to the Legion of

Honour

and Court of the EmpireSlide12

Works CitedEugene Wignerhttp://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1963/wigner-bio.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Wigner

http://

www.osti.gov/accomplishments/wigner.html

Dennis Gaborhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Gabor

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1971/gabor-autobio.htmlGeorge Dantzig

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig

http://www.stanford.edu/group/SOL/dantzig.html

Richard

Bellman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Bellman

http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/biography/bellman.html

http://www-math.cudenver.edu/~

wcherowi/courses/m4010/s05/sanabria.pdf

Joseph-Louis LaGrange

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_louis_lagrange

http://www2.stetson.edu/~

efriedma/periodictable/html/Lr.html