Eugene Dynkin
Encyclopedia
Eugene Borisovich Dynkin is a Soviet and American mathematician
. He has made contributions to the fields of probability
and algebra
, especially semisimple Lie group
s, Lie algebra
s, and Markov process
es. The Dynkin diagram, the Dynkin system
, and Dynkin's lemma are named for him.
Dynkin lived in Leningrad
until 1935, when his father was declared "enemy of the people
" and the family was exiled to Kazakhstan
. At the age of 16, in 1940, despite his father's political difficulties, Dynkin enrolled at Moscow University. He avoided military service in World War II
because of his poor eyesight, and received his M.S.
in 1945 and his Ph.D.
in 1948. He became an assistant professor at Moscow, but was not awarded a "chair" until 1954 because of his political undesirability.
In 1968, Dynkin was forced to transfer from the Moscow University to the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He worked there on the theory of economic growth
and economic equilibrium
.
He remained at the Institute until 1976, when he emigrated to the United States
. He became a professor at Cornell University
, where he remains .
Probability:
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. He has made contributions to the fields of probability
Probability
Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...
and algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
, especially semisimple Lie group
Lie group
In mathematics, a Lie group is a group which is also a differentiable manifold, with the property that the group operations are compatible with the smooth structure...
s, Lie algebra
Lie algebra
In mathematics, a Lie algebra is an algebraic structure whose main use is in studying geometric objects such as Lie groups and differentiable manifolds. Lie algebras were introduced to study the concept of infinitesimal transformations. The term "Lie algebra" was introduced by Hermann Weyl in the...
s, and Markov process
Markov process
In probability theory and statistics, a Markov process, named after the Russian mathematician Andrey Markov, is a time-varying random phenomenon for which a specific property holds...
es. The Dynkin diagram, the Dynkin system
Dynkin system
A Dynkin system, named after Eugene Dynkin, is a collection of subsets of another universal set \Omega satisfying a set of axioms weaker than those of σ-algebra. Dynkin systems are sometimes referred to as λ-systems or d-system...
, and Dynkin's lemma are named for him.
Dynkin lived in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
until 1935, when his father was declared "enemy of the people
Enemy of the people
The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
" and the family was exiled to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. At the age of 16, in 1940, despite his father's political difficulties, Dynkin enrolled at Moscow University. He avoided military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
because of his poor eyesight, and received his M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in 1945 and his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1948. He became an assistant professor at Moscow, but was not awarded a "chair" until 1954 because of his political undesirability.
In 1968, Dynkin was forced to transfer from the Moscow University to the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He worked there on the theory of economic growth
Economic growth
In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
and economic equilibrium
Economic equilibrium
In economics, economic equilibrium is a state of the world where economic forces are balanced and in the absence of external influences the values of economic variables will not change. It is the point at which quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal...
.
He remained at the Institute until 1976, when he emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He became a professor at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, where he remains .
Prizes and Awards
- Prize of the Moscow Mathematical Society, 1951
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Fellow, 1962
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow, 1978
- National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Member, 1985
- American Mathematical Society, Leroy P. Steele Prize for Total Mathematical Work, 1993
- Moscow Mathematical Society, Honorary Member, 1995
- Doctor Honoris Causa of the Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6), 1997
- Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Warwick (England), 2003
- Doctor Honoris Causa of the Independent Moscow University (Russia), 2003
See also
Algebra:- Affine Dynkin diagram
- Coxeter–Dynkin diagram
- Dynkin diagram (Dynkin graph)
- Dynkin index
Probability:
- Doob–Dynkin lemmaDoob–Dynkin lemmaIn mathematics, the Doob–Dynkin lemma, named after Joseph Doob and Eugene Dynkin, is a statement in probability theory that characterizes the situation when one random variable is a function of another, in terms of measurability and \sigma algebras....
- Dynkin's formulaDynkin's formulaIn mathematics — specifically, in stochastic analysis — Dynkin's formula is a theorem giving the expected value of any suitably smooth statistic of an Itō diffusion at a stopping time. It may be seen as a stochastic generalization of the fundamental theorem of calculus...
- Dynkin systemDynkin systemA Dynkin system, named after Eugene Dynkin, is a collection of subsets of another universal set \Omega satisfying a set of axioms weaker than those of σ-algebra. Dynkin systems are sometimes referred to as λ-systems or d-system...