Peter Hammer
Encyclopedia
Peter L. Hammer was an American mathematician
native to Romania
. He contributed to the fields of operations research
and applied discrete mathematics
through the study of pseudo-Boolean functions and their connections to graph theory
and data mining
.
(Romania
) in 1936. He earned his PhD. from the University of Bucharest
, under the supervision of Grigore Moisil
.
He married Anca Ivănescu in 1961. In 1967, they defected to Israel
, where he became professor at Technion, Haifa
. In 1969 moved to Canada where he taught at McGill University
and University of Waterloo
. In 1983, he settled in the United States and became Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He died from a car accident on December 27, 2006, near Princeton, New Jersey
.
Peter Hammer was founder and director of RUTCOR (Rutgers University Center for Operations Research).
He was founder and chief-editor of several internationally renowned journals dedicated to optimization, such as Discrete Mathematics
, Discrete Applied Mathematics, Discrete Optimization, Annals of Discrete Mathematics, Annals of Operations Research, SIAM Monographs on Discrete Mathematics and Applications.
Peter Hammer was internationally acknowledged as an influent researcher. He received honorary degrees from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
in Lausanne (1986), University of Rome La Sapienza
(1998), University of Liège
(1999). He was also granted the "George Tzitzeica" prize of the Romanian Academy of Science (1966), and the Euler Medal
of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (1999). He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 1974, and a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications. Several conferences were dedicated to him, including the First International Colloquium on Pseudo-Boolean Optimization (Chexbres, Switzerland, 1987), the Workshop and Symposia Honoring Peter L. Hammer (Caesarea Rothchild Institute, University of Haifa, 2003) and the International Conference on Graphs and Optimization (GO V, Leukerbad, Switzerland, 2006).
He was father of two sons, and grandfather of five.
and discrete mathematics
. He dedicated most of his work to the study of pseudo-Boolean functions (functions from
to 
) and their connections with optimisation
. He is considered the father of the Boolean Function Theory as well as the main contributor to it, as his books testify. He also applied the techniques he developed to graph theory
and integer programming
.
More recently, he extended his work on pseudo-Boolean functions toward data mining
and proposed the Logical Analysis of Data (LAD) methodology. He registered several successes with this method essentially to help medical diagnosis.
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....
native to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. He contributed to the fields of operations research
Operations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
and applied discrete mathematics
Discrete mathematics
Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that are fundamentally discrete rather than continuous. In contrast to real numbers that have the property of varying "smoothly", the objects studied in discrete mathematics – such as integers, graphs, and statements in logic – do not...
through the study of pseudo-Boolean functions and their connections to 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...
and data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
.
Biography
Peter Ladislaw Hammer was born in TimişoaraTimisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
(Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) in 1936. He earned his PhD. from the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
, under the supervision of Grigore Moisil
Grigore Moisil
Grigore Constantin Moisil was a Romanian mathematician, computer pioneer, and member of the Romanian Academy. His research was mainly in the fields of mathematical logic, , Algebraic logic, MV-algebra, algebra and differential equations...
.
He married Anca Ivănescu in 1961. In 1967, they defected to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where he became professor at Technion, Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. In 1969 moved to Canada where he taught at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
and University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
. In 1983, he settled in the United States and became Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He died from a car accident on December 27, 2006, near Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
.
Peter Hammer was founder and director of RUTCOR (Rutgers University Center for Operations Research).
He was founder and chief-editor of several internationally renowned journals dedicated to optimization, such as Discrete Mathematics
Discrete Mathematics (journal)
Discrete Mathematics is a journal in the broad area of discrete mathematics, combinatorics, graph theory and their applications, published by Elsevier. It publishes both short notes, full length contributions, as well as survey articles. In addition, DM publishes a number of special issues each...
, Discrete Applied Mathematics, Discrete Optimization, Annals of Discrete Mathematics, Annals of Operations Research, SIAM Monographs on Discrete Mathematics and Applications.
Peter Hammer was internationally acknowledged as an influent researcher. He received honorary degrees from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:...
in Lausanne (1986), University of Rome La Sapienza
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
(1998), University of Liège
University of Liège
The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
(1999). He was also granted the "George Tzitzeica" prize of the Romanian Academy of Science (1966), and the Euler Medal
Euler Medal
The Euler Medal, named after the 18th century mathematician Leonhard Euler, is an honor awarded annually by the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications to a member with a distinguished lifetime contribution to combinatorial research who are still active in research.-Laureates:* 2008: Gabor...
of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (1999). He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 1974, and a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications. Several conferences were dedicated to him, including the First International Colloquium on Pseudo-Boolean Optimization (Chexbres, Switzerland, 1987), the Workshop and Symposia Honoring Peter L. Hammer (Caesarea Rothchild Institute, University of Haifa, 2003) and the International Conference on Graphs and Optimization (GO V, Leukerbad, Switzerland, 2006).
He was father of two sons, and grandfather of five.
Work
Peter Hammer was a prolific and influential researcher in the fields of operations researchOperations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
and discrete mathematics
Discrete mathematics
Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that are fundamentally discrete rather than continuous. In contrast to real numbers that have the property of varying "smoothly", the objects studied in discrete mathematics – such as integers, graphs, and statements in logic – do not...
. He dedicated most of his work to the study of pseudo-Boolean functions (functions from
to ) and their connections with optimisationOptimization (mathematics)
In mathematics, computational science, or management science, mathematical optimization refers to the selection of a best element from some set of available alternatives....
. He is considered the father of the Boolean Function Theory as well as the main contributor to it, as his books testify. He also applied the techniques he developed to 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...
and integer programming
Integer programming
An integer programming problem is a mathematical optimization or feasibility program in which some or all of the variables are restricted to be integers. In many settings the term refers to integer linear programming, which is also known as mixed integer programming.Integer programming is NP-hard...
.
More recently, he extended his work on pseudo-Boolean functions toward data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
and proposed the Logical Analysis of Data (LAD) methodology. He registered several successes with this method essentially to help medical diagnosis.
Publications
His publications include 19 books and over 240 papers. A selection:- 1968. Boolean Methods in Operations Research and Related Areas (with S. Rudeanu). SpringerVerlag, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York, 1968, 330 pages.
- 2007. Boolean Functions: Theory, Algorithms and Applications (with Y. Crama). Cambridge University Press, forthcoming (2007).
- 2008. Boolean Functions in Computer Science and Engineering (with Y. Crama). Cambridge University Press, forthcoming (2008).
- 2009. Boolean Functions in Pure and Applied Mathematics (with Y. Crama). Cambridge University Press, forthcoming (2009).
- 2010. PseudoBoolean Functions (with E. Boros and Y. Crama). Cambridge University Press, forthcoming (2010).