Franklin Paul Peterson (1930–2000) was an American

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 ...

specializing in

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...

. He was a professor of mathematics at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

...

Life and career

Peterson was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

, on August 27, 1930, the older of two brothers. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by his mother and uncle. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, graduating in 1952, and earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1955 from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

under the supervision of

Norman Steenrod Norman Earl Steenrod (April 22, 1910October 14, 1971) was an American mathematician most widely known for his contributions to the field of algebraic topology. Life He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and educated at Miami University and University of ...

. After postdoctoral studies at Princeton, he joined the MIT faculty in 1958. Peterson edited the ''

Transactions of the American Mathematical Society The ''Transactions of the American Mathematical Society'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics published by the American Mathematical Society. It was established in 1900. As a requirement, all articles must be more than 15 p ...

'' from 1966 to 1970. He also served for many years as treasurer of the AMS; in that role he played a key role in resolving tensions between the dual directors of the society as it was then structured, and worked to build up a large reserve fund for the society. Peterson married Marilyn Rutz in 1959. He died of a stroke on September 1, 2000, near

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Contributions

Peterson's early research used

cohomology In mathematics, specifically in homology theory and algebraic topology, cohomology is a general term for a sequence of abelian groups, usually one associated with a topological space, often defined from a cochain complex. Cohomology can be viewe ...

to study

homotopy equivalence In topology, a branch of mathematics, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from grc, ὁμός "same, similar" and "place") if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deforma ...

. Later, he did important work on the properties of

loop space In topology, a branch of mathematics, the loop space Ω''X'' of a pointed topological space ''X'' is the space of (based) loops in ''X'', i.e. continuous pointed maps from the pointed circle ''S''1 to ''X'', equipped with the compact-open topology ...

s. The

Peterson–Stein formula In mathematics, the Peterson–Stein formula, introduced by , describes the Spanier–Whitehead dual of a secondary cohomology operation In mathematics, a secondary cohomology operation is a functorial correspondence between cohomology groups. Mo ...

is named after him, after he wrote about it with Norman Stein in 1960. He also introduced the

Brown–Peterson cohomology In mathematics, Brown–Peterson cohomology is a generalized cohomology theory introduced by , depending on a choice of prime ''p''. It is described in detail by . Its representing spectrum is denoted by BP. Complex cobordism and Quillen's idempo ...

with

Edgar H. Brown Edgar Henry Brown, Jr. (December 27, 1926 – December 22, 2021) was an American mathematician specializing in algebraic topology, and for many years a professor at Brandeis University. Life Brown was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He completed ...

in 1966.. He advised over 20 doctoral students (different sources give different numbers, in part because Robert E. Mosher, whom Peterson considered his first student, had a different official advisor) and has over 100 academic descendants.

Selected publications

*. * *. *. *. Part II (with Frederick R. Cohen), pp. 41–51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Franklin P. 1930 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Northwestern University alumni Princeton University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Topologists Mathematicians from Illinois People from Aurora, Illinois