Gustav de Vries
Encyclopedia
Korteweg–de Vries equation
In mathematics, the Korteweg–de Vries equation is a mathematical model of waves on shallow water surfaces. It is particularly notable as the prototypical example of an exactly solvable model, that is, a non-linear partial differential equation whose solutions can be exactly and precisely specified...
with Diederik Korteweg
Diederik Korteweg
Diederik Johannes Korteweg was a Dutch mathematician. He is now remembered as the joint discoverer of the Korteweg–de Vries equation.-Early life and education:...
. He was born on 22 January 1866 in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, and studied at the University of Amsterdam with the distinguished physical chemist Johannes van der Waals and with Korteweg. While doing his doctoral research De Vries supported himself by teaching at the Royal Military Academy in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
(1892-1893) and at the "cadettenschool" in Alkmaar
Alkmaar
Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...
(1893-1894). Under Korteweg's supervision de Vries completed his doctoral dissertation:
Bijdrage tot de kennis der lange golven, (Contributions to the knowledge of long waves) Acad. proefschrift, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1894, 95 pp, Loosjes, Haarlem. The following year Korteweg and de Vries published the research paper On the Change of Form of Long Waves advancing in a Rectangular Canal and on a New Type of Long Stationary Waves, Philosophical Magazine, 5th series, 39, 1895, pp. 422–443. In 1894 de Vries worked as a high school teacher at the "HBS en Handelsschool" in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, where he remained until his retirement in 1931. He died in Haarlem on 16 December 1934.
Further reading
- Bastiaan Willink, The collaboration between Korteweg and de Vries — An enquiry into personalities, History of Physics, 16 p., October 2007 (arXiv.org).