Cameron Leigh Stewart
FRSC is a Canadian
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
. He is a professor of pure mathematics at the
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...
.
Contributions
He has made numerous contributions to
number theory
Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic function, integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 ...
, in particular to work on the
''abc'' conjecture. In 1976 he obtained, with
Alan Baker, an effective improvement to
Liouville's Theorem. In 1991 he proved that the number of solutions to a
Thue equation
In mathematics, a Thue equation is a Diophantine equation of the form
:''ƒ''(''x'',''y'') = ''r'',
where ''ƒ'' is an irreducible bivariate form of degree at least 3 over the rational numbers, and ''r'' is a nonzero rational number. It ...
is at most
, where
is a pre-determined positive real number and
is the number of distinct primes dividing a large divisor
of
. This improves on an earlier result of
Enrico Bombieri
Enrico Bombieri (born 26 November 1940, Milan) is an Italian mathematician, known for his work in analytic number theory, Diophantine geometry, complex analysis, and group theory. Bombieri is currently Professor Emeritus in the School of Mathema ...
and
Wolfgang M. Schmidt
Wolfgang M. Schmidt (born 3 October 1933) is an Austrian mathematician working in the area of number theory. He studied mathematics at the University of Vienna, where he received his PhD, which was supervised by Edmund Hlawka, in 1955. Wolfgang ...
and is close to the best possible result. In 1995 he obtained, along with
Jaap Top, the existence of infinitely many quadratic, cubic, and sextic twists of
elliptic curves
In mathematics, an elliptic curve is a smooth, projective, algebraic curve of genus one, on which there is a specified point . An elliptic curve is defined over a field and describes points in , the Cartesian product of with itself. If the ...
of large rank. In 1991 and 2001 respectively, he obtained, along with Kunrui Yu, the best unconditional estimates for the
abc conjecture
The ''abc'' conjecture (also known as the Oesterlé–Masser conjecture) is a conjecture in number theory that arose out of a discussion of Joseph Oesterlé and David Masser in 1985. It is stated in terms of three positive integers ''a'', ''b' ...
. In 2013, he solved an old problem of
Erdős
Erdős, Erdos, or Erdoes is a Hungarian surname.
People with the surname include:
* Ágnes Erdős (born 1950), Hungarian politician
* Brad Erdos (born 1990), Canadian football player
* Éva Erdős (born 1964), Hungarian handball player
* Józse ...
(so his
Erdős number
The Erdős number () describes the "collaborative distance" between mathematician Paul Erdős and another person, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers. The same principle has been applied in other fields where a particular individual ...
is 1) involving Lucas and Lehmer numbers. In particular, he proved that the largest prime divisor
of
satisfies
.
Education
Stewart completed a
B.Sc.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
in 1971 and a
M.Sc
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
in 1972 from
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
. He earned his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
from the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1976, under the supervision of
Alan Baker.
Recognition
In 1974, while at Cambridge, he was awarded the J.T. Knight Prize.
He was elected Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
in 1989. He was appointed Fellow of the
Fields Institute
The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, commonly known simply as the Fields Institute, is an international centre for scientific research in mathematical sciences. It is an independent non-profit with strong ties to 20 Ontari ...
in 2008. Since 2003 he has held a
Canada Research Chair
Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program.
Program goals
The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
(tier 1). Since 2005 he has been appointed University Professor at the University of Waterloo. He was selected to give the annua
Isidore and Hilda Dressler Lectureat
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
in 2015.
He was elected as a fellow of the
Canadian Mathematical Society
The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) (french: Société mathématique du Canada) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research, outreach, scholarship and education in Canada. It serves the ...
in 2019.
Selected works
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*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Website at University of Waterloo*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Cameron Leigh
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Fellows of the Canadian Mathematical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
20th-century Canadian mathematicians
21st-century Canadian mathematicians
McGill University alumni
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Academic staff of the University of Waterloo
University of British Columbia alumni
Canada Research Chairs