Benjamin Weiss ( he, בנימין ווייס; born 1941) is an American-Israeli mathematician known for his contributions to

ergodic theory Ergodic theory (Greek: ' "work", ' "way") is a branch of mathematics that studies statistical properties of deterministic dynamical systems; it is the study of ergodicity. In this context, statistical properties means properties which are expres ...

topological dynamics In mathematics, topological dynamics is a branch of the theory of dynamical systems in which qualitative, asymptotic properties of dynamical systems are studied from the viewpoint of general topology. Scope The central object of study in topol ...

probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set o ...

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...

, and

descriptive set theory In mathematical logic, descriptive set theory (DST) is the study of certain classes of "well-behaved" subsets of the real line and other Polish spaces. As well as being one of the primary areas of research in set theory, it has applications to ot ...

Biography

Benjamin ("Benjy") Weiss was born in New York City. In 1962 he received B.A. from

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

and M.A. from the Graduate School of Science,

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

. In 1965, he received his Ph.D. from

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

under the supervision of

William Feller William "Vilim" Feller (July 7, 1906 – January 14, 1970), born Vilibald Srećko Feller, was a Croatian- American mathematician specializing in probability theory. Early life and education Feller was born in Zagreb to Ida Oemichen-Perc, a Cro ...

Academic career

Between 1965 and 1967, Weiss worked at the

IBM Research IBM Research is the research and development division for IBM, an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, with operations in over 170 countries. IBM Research is the largest industrial research org ...

. In 1967, he joined the faculty of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

; and since 1990 occupied the Miriam and Julius Vinik Chair in Mathematics (Emeritus since 2009). Weiss held visiting positions at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, MSRI, and

Center. Weiss published over 180 papers in

, orbit equivalence,

probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and ...

information theory Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification (science), quantification, computer data storage, storage, and telecommunication, communication of information. The field was originally established by the works of Harry Nyquist a ...

; with notable contributions including introduction of

Markov partition A Markov partition in mathematics is a tool used in dynamical systems theory, allowing the methods of symbolic dynamics to be applied to the study of hyperbolic dynamics. By using a Markov partition, the system can be made to resemble a discrete ...

s (with Roy Adler), development of ergodic theory of

amenable group In mathematics, an amenable group is a locally compact topological group ''G'' carrying a kind of averaging operation on bounded functions that is invariant under translation by group elements. The original definition, in terms of a finitely addit ...

s (with Don Ornstein), mean dimension (with Elon Lindenstrauss), introduction of sofic subshifts and sofic groups. The

road coloring conjecture In graph theory the road coloring theorem, known previously as the road coloring conjecture, deals with Synchronization, synchronized instructions. The issue involves whether by using such instructions, one can reach or locate an object or destinati ...

was also posed by Weiss with Roy Adler. One of Weiss's students is

Elon Lindenstrauss Elon Lindenstrauss ( he, אילון לינדנשטראוס, born August 1, 1970) is an Israeli mathematician, and a winner of the 2010 Fields Medal. Since 2004, he has been a professor at Princeton University. In 2009, he was appointed to Profess ...

, a 2010 recipient of the

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...

Awards and recognition

Weiss gave an invited address at the

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

1974, was twice the main speaker at a Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences (1979 and 1995), gave the M.B.Porter Distinguished Lecture Series at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

(1998). In 2000 Weiss was elected as a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. In 2006 he was awarded the

Rothschild Prize Yad Hanadiv (The Rothschild Foundation) is a Rothschild family philanthropic foundation in Israel. Goals and objectives Yad Hanadiv defines its mission as: Dedicated to creating resources for advancing Israel as a healthy, vibrant, democratic s ...

in Mathematics. In 2012 Weiss was elected a Fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

.List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 2013-09-01.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Benjamin Living people Israeli mathematicians Dynamical systems theorists Princeton University alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society 1941 births

Biography

Academic career

Awards and recognition

See also

References