Gert Sabidussi
Encyclopedia
Gert Sabidussi is an Austrian-Canadian mathematician
specializing in combinatorics
and graph theory
.
, Austria
to a family of Austrian, Italian
, Armenian, Czech
and Slovenian ancestry. His family later moved to Innsbruck
where his father was a Protestant deacon
. He graduated from the University of Vienna
, where he attended lectured by Felix Ehrenhaft
, Nikolaus Hofreiter
, Johann Radon
and Hans Thirring
. In 1953, he defended his doctorate
on 0-1 matrices under the supervision of Edmund Hlawka
and received a two year fellowship at Princeton University
. He was then an Instructor at University of Minnesota
in Minneapolis, but because of the heavy teaching load moved a year later, in 1956, to Tulane University
in New Orleans. He moved to Montreal
in 1963, and was instrumental in bringing to Canada a number of combinatorialists and graph theorists, including Anton Kotzig
, and Jaroslav Nešetřil
who wrote a thesis under Sabidussi. He first worked at McMaster University
and then at University of Montreal. Over the years, he had 13 graduate students. His 60th, 70th and 80th birthdays were celebrated with large Graph Theory birthday conferences.
s, graph product
s and Frucht's theorem
.
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....
specializing in combinatorics
Combinatorics
Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of finite or countable discrete structures. Aspects of combinatorics include counting the structures of a given kind and size , deciding when certain criteria can be met, and constructing and analyzing objects meeting the criteria ,...
and graph theory
Graph theory
In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
.
Biography
Sabidussi was born in GrazGraz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
to a family of Austrian, Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, Armenian, Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
and Slovenian ancestry. His family later moved to Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
where his father was a Protestant deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
. He graduated from the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, where he attended lectured by Felix Ehrenhaft
Felix Ehrenhaft
Felix Ehrenhaft was an Austrian physicist who contributed to atomic physics, to the measurement of electrical charges and to the optical properties of metal colloids. He was known for his maverick and controversial style...
, Nikolaus Hofreiter
Nikolaus Hofreiter
Nikolaus Hofreiter was an Austrian mathematician who worked mainly in number theory....
, Johann Radon
Johann Radon
Johann Karl August Radon was an Austrian mathematician. His doctoral dissertation was on calculus of variations .- Life :...
and Hans Thirring
Hans Thirring
Hans Thirring was an Austrian theoretical physicist, professor, and father of the physicist Walter Thirring....
. In 1953, he defended his doctorate
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...
on 0-1 matrices under the supervision of Edmund Hlawka
Edmund Hlawka
Edmund Hlawka was an Austrian mathematician. He was a leading number theorist. Hlawka did most of his work at the Vienna University of Technology. He was also a visiting professor at Princeton University and the Sorbonne...
and received a two year fellowship at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. He was then an Instructor at University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in Minneapolis, but because of the heavy teaching load moved a year later, in 1956, to Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans. He moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in 1963, and was instrumental in bringing to Canada a number of combinatorialists and graph theorists, including Anton Kotzig
Anton Kotzig
Anton Kotzig was a Slovak–Canadian mathematician, expert in statistics, combinatorics and graph theory. The Ringel-Kotzig conjecture on graceful labeling of trees is named after him and Gerhard Ringel.- Biography :...
, and Jaroslav Nešetřil
Jaroslav Nešetril
Jaroslav Nešetřil is a Czech mathematician, working at Charles University in Prague. His research areas include combinatorics , graph theory , algebra , posets , computer science .Nešetřil...
who wrote a thesis under Sabidussi. He first worked at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
and then at University of Montreal. Over the years, he had 13 graduate students. His 60th, 70th and 80th birthdays were celebrated with large Graph Theory birthday conferences.
Mathematical work
Sabidussi wrote foundational work on Cayley graphCayley graph
In mathematics, a Cayley graph, also known as a Cayley colour graph, Cayley diagram, group diagram, or colour group is a graph that encodes the abstract structure of a group. Its definition is suggested by Cayley's theorem and uses a specified, usually finite, set of generators for the group...
s, graph product
Graph product
In mathematics, a graph product is a certain kind of binary operation on graphs. Specifically, it is an operation that takes two graphs G1 and G2 and produces a graph H with the following properties:...
s and Frucht's theorem
Frucht's theorem
Frucht's theorem is a theorem in algebraic graph theory conjectured by Dénes Kőnig in 1936 and proved by Robert Frucht in 1939. It states that every finite group is the group of symmetries of a finite undirected graph...
.
External links
- Gert Sabidussi Web Page at Université de Montréal.
- Algebraic Graph Theory 2009, a Conference in celebration of Gert Sabidussi's 80th birthday.