- Peter Borwein
Peter Benjamin Borwein (
St. Andrews ,Scotland , 1953) is a Canadianmathematician , co-developer of an algorithm for calculating π to the "n"th digit,PiHex , co-discoverer of the trillionth, four trillionth, 40th trillionth, and quadrillionth digits of π, and a professor atSimon Fraser University .First interest in math
Borwein became interested in
number theory and classical analysis duringhis second year of university. He had not previously been interested in math, although his father was the head of theUniversity of Western Ontario 's mathematics department and his mother is associate dean of medicine there. Borwein and his two siblings majored in mathematics.Academic career
After completing a Bachelor of Science in Honours Math at the University of Western Ontario in 1974, he went on to complete an MSc and Ph.D. at the
University of British Columbia . He joined the Department of Mathematics atDalhousie University . While he was there, he, his brotherJonathan Borwein andDavid H. Bailey ofNASA wrote the 1989 paper that showed a proof for computing one billion digits of π. They won the 1993Chauvent prize andHasse prize .In 1993, he moved to Simon Fraser University, joining his brother Jonathan inestablishing the
Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics (CECM).Research
In 1995, the Borweins collaborated with
Yasumasa Kanada of theUniversity of Tokyo to compute π to more than four billion digits.Peter Borwein also collaborated with
NASA 's David Bailey and the University of Quebec'sSimon Plouffe to calculate the individualhexadecimal digits of π. This provided a way for mathematicians to determine the "n"th digit of π without calculating preceding digits.Publications
As a co-author, Borwein has written "Pi: A Source Book" (1999), "Polynomials and Polynomial Inequalities"(1998), "Pi and the AGM" (1987; reprinted in 1998) and "A Dictionary of Real Numbers". He and his brother, Jonathan, co-edit the
Canadian Mathematical Society /Springer-Verlag series of "Books in Mathematics".Affiliations
A professor at
Simon Fraser University , Peter Borwein is affiliated withInterdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences (IRMACS), Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics (CECM),Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS), andPacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS).ee also
*
Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe formula
*Jonathan Borwein (brother and mathematician)External links
* [http://www.science.ca/scientists/scientistprofile.php?pID=268 Science.ca profile]
* [http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/~pborwein/ Peter Borwein's research interests]
* [http://css.sfu.ca/members/bio.cgi?MemberID=44 Simon Fraser University Centre for Systems Science bio]
* [http://www.sfu.ca/mediapr/sfu_news/sfunews04030201.html SFU news release on Borwein siblings]
* [http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/~pborwein/ Borwein's website]
*MathGenealogy |id=17637
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