Gunther Uhlmann
Encyclopedia
Gunther Alberto Uhlmann Arancibia (9 February 1952, Chile
) is a mathematician whose research focuses on inverse problem
s and imaging
, microlocal analysis
and partial differential equations.
Uhlmann studied mathematics as an undergraduate at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, gaining his Licenciatura degree in 1973. He continued his studies at MIT where he received a Ph.D. in 1976. He held postdoctoral positions at MIT, Harvard and NYU, including a Courant Instructorship at the Courant Institute in 1977–1978. In 1980, he became Assistant Professor at MIT and then moved in 1985 to the University of Washington
. He has been the Walker Family Professor at the University of Washington
since 2006. Since 2010 he has been on leave at the University of California, Irvine
, as the Excellence in Teaching Endowed Chair.
Uhlmann has received several honors for his research including a Sloan Fellowship
in 1984 and a Guggenheim fellowship
in 2001. In 2001 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics
since 2004. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 2009 and a SIAM Fellow in 2010. He was an Invited Speaker at ICM in Berlin in 1998 and a Plenary Speaker at International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics
in Zurich in 2007. He was named a Highly Cited Researcher by ISI in 2004. He was awarded the Bôcher Memorial Prize
in 2011 and the Kleinman Prize also in 2011.
. He and John Sylvester made a major breakthrough in Calderón's inverse problem that has led to many other developments including the case of partial data. Another major breakthrough was the solution with Leonid Pestov of the boundary rigidity problem in two dimensions. Uhlmann has also been interested in cloaking and invisibility. He and coauthors pioneered the idea of transformation optics for the case of electrostatics. Surveys of results by Uhlmann and coauthors on cloaking can be found in .
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
) is a mathematician whose research focuses on inverse problem
Inverse problem
An inverse problem is a general framework that is used to convert observed measurements into information about a physical object or system that we are interested in...
s and imaging
Imaging
Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's outward form; especially a visual representation .- Imaging methodologies and technologies :...
, microlocal analysis
Microlocal analysis
In mathematical analysis, microlocal analysis comprises techniques developed from the 1950s onwards based on Fourier transforms related to the study of variable-coefficients-linear and nonlinear partial differential equations...
and partial differential equations.
Uhlmann studied mathematics as an undergraduate at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, gaining his Licenciatura degree in 1973. He continued his studies at MIT where he received a Ph.D. in 1976. He held postdoctoral positions at MIT, Harvard and NYU, including a Courant Instructorship at the Courant Institute in 1977–1978. In 1980, he became Assistant Professor at MIT and then moved in 1985 to the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. He has been the Walker Family Professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
since 2006. Since 2010 he has been on leave at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, as the Excellence in Teaching Endowed Chair.
Uhlmann has received several honors for his research including a Sloan Fellowship
Sloan Fellowship
The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This is distinct from the Sloan Fellows in business....
in 1984 and a Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 2001. In 2001 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....
since 2004. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 2009 and a SIAM Fellow in 2010. He was an Invited Speaker at ICM in Berlin in 1998 and a Plenary Speaker at International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics
International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics
The International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics is an international congress in the field of applied mathematics held every four years under the auspices of the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics...
in Zurich in 2007. He was named a Highly Cited Researcher by ISI in 2004. He was awarded the Bôcher Memorial Prize
Bôcher Memorial Prize
The Bôcher Memorial Prize was founded by the American Mathematical Society in 1923 in memory of Maxime Bôcher with an initial endowment of $1,450 . It is awarded every five years for a notable research memoir in analysis that has appeared during the past six years in a recognized North American...
in 2011 and the Kleinman Prize also in 2011.
Research
The earlier work of Uhlmann was in microlocal analysis and propagation of singularities for equations with multiple characteristics, in particular in understanding the phenomenon of conical refraction. He and Richard Burt Melrose pioneered the study of paired Lagrangian distributions. A striking application of this theory was given in the article with Alan Greenleaf on restricted X-ray transformX-ray transform
In mathematics, the X-ray transform is an integral transform introduced by that is one of the cornerstones of modern integral geometry. It is very closely related to the Radon transform, and coincides with it in two dimensions...
. He and John Sylvester made a major breakthrough in Calderón's inverse problem that has led to many other developments including the case of partial data. Another major breakthrough was the solution with Leonid Pestov of the boundary rigidity problem in two dimensions. Uhlmann has also been interested in cloaking and invisibility. He and coauthors pioneered the idea of transformation optics for the case of electrostatics. Surveys of results by Uhlmann and coauthors on cloaking can be found in .