Friedrich Hirzebruch

Infobox_Scientist
name = Friedrich Hirzebruch


caption =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1927|10|17|mf=y
birth_place = Hamm, Germany
residence = Germany
nationality = German
field = Mathematics
work_institutions = University of Bonn
Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik
alma_mater = University of Münster
ETH Zürich
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton University
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for = Hirzebruch-Riemann-Roch theorem
prizes = Wolf Prize (1988)
Lobachevsky Medal (1989)
Erdős number =
religion =
footnotes = Friedrich E.P. Hirzebruch (born 17 October 1927) is a German mathematician, working in the fields of topology, complex manifolds and algebraic geometry, and a leading figure in his generation.

He was born in Hamm, Westphalia. He studied at the University of Münster from 1945-1950, with one year at ETH Zürich. He then had a position at Erlangen, followed by the years 1952-54 at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. After one year at Princeton University 1955-56, he was made a professor at the University of Bonn, where he remained, becoming director of the "Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik" in 1981. More than 300 people participated in the event in ceremony of his 80th birthday at Bonn in 2007.

The Hirzebruch-Riemann-Roch theorem (1954) for complex manifolds was a major advance and quickly became part of the mainstream developments around the classical Riemann-Roch theorem; it was also a precursor of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. Hirzebruch's book "Neue topologische Methoden in der algebraischen Geometrie" (1956) was a basic text for the 'new methods' of sheaf theory, in complex algebraic geometry. He went on to write the foundational papers on topological K-theory with Michael Atiyah, and collaborate with Armand Borel on the theory of characteristic classes. In his later work he provided a detailed theory of Hilbert modular surfaces, working with Don Zagier.

Hirzebruch is a foreign member of numerous academies and societies, including the United States National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences. In 1980/81 he delivered the first Sackler Distinguished Lecture in Israel.

Honors

Amongst many other honors, Hirzebruch was awarded a Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 1988, a Lobachevsky Medal in 1989.

The government of Japan awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1996. [ [http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=article&no=8245 L'Harmattan web site (in French)] , Order with gold and silver rays]

Hirzebruch won an Einstein Medal in 1999, and received the Cantor medal in 2004.

ee also

*Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence
*Hirzebruch signature theorem

References

External links

*