Ernst Paul Specker (11 February 1920, Zurich – 10 December 2011, Zurich) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

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 ...

. Much of his most influential work was on Quine's

New Foundations In mathematical logic, New Foundations (NF) is an axiomatic set theory, conceived by Willard Van Orman Quine as a simplification of the theory of types of ''Principia Mathematica''. Quine first proposed NF in a 1937 article titled "New Foundations ...

, a

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...

with a

universal set In set theory, a universal set is a set which contains all objects, including itself. In set theory as usually formulated, it can be proven in multiple ways that a universal set does not exist. However, some non-standard variants of set theory inc ...

, but he is most famous for the

Kochen–Specker theorem In quantum mechanics, the Kochen–Specker (KS) theorem, also known as the Bell–Kochen–Specker theorem, is a "no-go" theorem proved by John S. Bell in 1966 and by Simon B. Kochen and Ernst Specker in 1967. It places certain constraints on th ...

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

, showing that certain types of

hidden variable theories In physics, hidden-variable theories are proposals to provide explanations of quantum mechanical phenomena through the introduction of (possibly unobservable) hypothetical entities. The existence of fundamental indeterminacy for some measurem ...

are impossible. He also proved the ordinal

partition relation In mathematics, infinitary combinatorics, or combinatorial set theory, is an extension of ideas in combinatorics to infinite sets. Some of the things studied include continuous graphs and trees, extensions of Ramsey's theorem, and Martin's axiom. R ...

ω² → (ω²,3)², thereby solving a 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 ...

. Specker received his Ph.D. in 1949 from

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, where he remained throughout his professional career.

References

External links

Biography
at the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Ernst Specker (1920-2011)
Martin Fürer, January 25, 2012. * Ernst Specke
Selecta
Birkhauser, 1990. 1920 births 2011 deaths ETH Zurich alumni ETH Zurich faculty Scientists from Zürich Set theorists Swiss mathematicians 20th-century Swiss mathematicians {{Europe-mathematician-stub

See also

References

External links