Roger Apéry
Encyclopedia
Roger Apéry was a Greek
-French
mathematician
most remembered for Apéry's theorem, that ζ(3) is an irrational number
where ζ denotes the Riemann zeta function.
Apéry was born in Rouen
in 1916 to a French
mother and Greek
father. After studies at the École Normale Supérieure
(interrupted by a year as prisoner of war
during World War II
) he was appointed Lecturer at Rennes
. In 1949 he was appointed Professor at the University of Caen where he remained until his retirement. He died after a long illness in Caen
in 1994.
In 1979 he published an unexpected proof of the irrationality
of ζ(3)
, which is the sum of the inverses of the cubes of the positive integers. An indication of the difficulty is that the corresponding problem for other odd powers remains unsolved. Nevertheless, many mathematicians have since worked on the so-called Apéry sequences to seek alternative proofs that might apply to other odd powers (F. Beukers, A. van der Poorten, M. Prevost, K. Ball, T. Rivoal, Wadim Zudilin
and others).
Apéry was active in politics and for a few years in the 60s was president of the Calvados
Radical Party. He abandoned politics after the reforms instituted by Edgar Faure
after the 1968 revolt, when he realised that university life was running against the tradition he had always upheld.
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
-French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
mathematician
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....
most remembered for Apéry's theorem, that ζ(3) is an irrational number
Irrational number
In mathematics, an irrational number is any real number that cannot be expressed as a ratio a/b, where a and b are integers, with b non-zero, and is therefore not a rational number....
where ζ denotes the Riemann zeta function.
Apéry was born in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
in 1916 to a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
mother and Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
father. After studies at the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
(interrupted by a year as prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
during 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...
) he was appointed Lecturer at Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
. In 1949 he was appointed Professor at the University of Caen where he remained until his retirement. He died after a long illness in Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
in 1994.
In 1979 he published an unexpected proof of the irrationality
Irrational number
In mathematics, an irrational number is any real number that cannot be expressed as a ratio a/b, where a and b are integers, with b non-zero, and is therefore not a rational number....
of ζ(3)
Apéry's constant
In mathematics, Apéry's constant is a number that occurs in a variety of situations. It arises naturally in a number of physical problems, including in the second- and third-order terms of the electron's gyromagnetic ratio using quantum electrodynamics...
, which is the sum of the inverses of the cubes of the positive integers. An indication of the difficulty is that the corresponding problem for other odd powers remains unsolved. Nevertheless, many mathematicians have since worked on the so-called Apéry sequences to seek alternative proofs that might apply to other odd powers (F. Beukers, A. van der Poorten, M. Prevost, K. Ball, T. Rivoal, Wadim Zudilin
Wadim Zudilin
Wadim Zudilin is a Russian number theorist who is active in studying hypergeometric functions and zeta constants. He studied under Yuri V. Nesterenko and worked at Moscow State University, the Steklov Institute of Mathematics and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics. He now works at the...
and others).
Apéry was active in politics and for a few years in the 60s was president of the Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
Radical Party. He abandoned politics after the reforms instituted by Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
after the 1968 revolt, when he realised that university life was running against the tradition he had always upheld.