George Eyre Andrews (born December 4, 1938)
is 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 ...
working in
special functions
Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications.
The term is defined by ...
,
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 (1777â ...
,
analysis
Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...
and
combinatorics
Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many appl ...
.
Education and career
He is currently an Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics at
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
.
He did his undergraduate studies at
Oregon State University
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...
and received his PhD in 1964 at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
where his advisor was
Hans Rademacher
Hans Adolph Rademacher (; 3 April 1892, Wandsbeck, now Hamburg-Wandsbek – 7 February 1969, Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA) was a German-born American mathematician, known for work in mathematical analysis and number theory.
Biography
Rademacher r ...
.
During 2008–2009 he was president 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, ...
.
Contributions
Andrews's contributions include several monographs and over 250 research and popular articles on
q-series
In mathematical area of combinatorics, the ''q''-Pochhammer symbol, also called the ''q''-shifted factorial, is the product
(a;q)_n = \prod_^ (1-aq^k)=(1-a)(1-aq)(1-aq^2)\cdots(1-aq^),
with (a;q)_0 = 1.
It is a ''q''-analog of the Pochhammer symb ...
,
special functions
Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications.
The term is defined by ...
,
combinatorics
Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many appl ...
and applications.
He is considered to be the world's leading expert in the theory of
integer partition
In number theory and combinatorics, a partition of a positive integer , also called an integer partition, is a way of writing as a sum of positive integers. Two sums that differ only in the order of their summands are considered the same part ...
s.
In 1976 he discovered
Ramanujan's
Lost Notebook
Ramanujan's lost notebook is the manuscript in which the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan recorded the mathematical discoveries of the last year (1919–1920) of his life. Its whereabouts were unknown to all but a few mathematicians until i ...
.
He is highly interested in mathematical pedagogy.
His book ''The Theory of Partitions'' is the standard reference on the subject of
integer partition
In number theory and combinatorics, a partition of a positive integer , also called an integer partition, is a way of writing as a sum of positive integers. Two sums that differ only in the order of their summands are considered the same part ...
s.
He has advanced mathematics in the theories of partitions and q-series. His work at the interface of number theory and combinatorics has also led to many important applications in physics.
[
]
Awards and honors
In 2003 Andrews was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
.[Inaugural Biography Article at the National Academy of Sciences](_blank)
He was elected a Fellow 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 1997. In 1998 he was an Invited Speaker 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 ...
in Berlin. In 2012 he became 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, ...
.
He was given honorary doctorates from the University of Parma
The University of Parma ( it, Università degli Studi di Parma, UNIPR) is a public university in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is organised in nine departments. As of 2016 the University of Parma has about 26,000 students.
History
During the ...
in 1998, the University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
in 2002, 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 ...
in 2004, SASTRA University
The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy, also known as SASTRA, is a private and deemed university in the town of Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. SASTRA is ranked by global ranking agencies such as ...
in Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...
, India in 2012, and University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...
in 2014
Publications
* ''Selected Works of George E Andrews (With Commentary)'' (World Scientific Publishing, 2012, )
''Number Theory''
(Dover, 1994, )
(Cambridge University Press, 1998, )
''Integer Partitions''
(with Eriksson, Kimmo) (Cambridge University Press, 2004, )
* ''Ramanujan's Lost Notebook: Part I'' (with Bruce C. Berndt
Bruce Carl Berndt (born March 13, 1939, in St. Joseph, Michigan)
is an American mathematician. Berndt attended college at Albion College, graduating in 1961, where he also ran track. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from the Universi ...
) (Springer, 2005, )
* ''Ramanujan's Lost Notebook: Part II'', (with Bruce C. Berndt) (Springer, 2008, )
* ''Ramanujan's Lost Notebook: Part III'', (with Bruce C. Berndt) (Springer, 2012, )
* ''Ramanujan's Lost Notebook: Part IV'', (with Bruce C. Berndt) (Springer, 2013, )
* "Special functions" by George Andrews, Richard Askey
Richard Allen Askey (4 June 1933 – 9 October 2019) was an American mathematician, known for his expertise in the area of special functions. The Askey–Wilson polynomials (introduced by him in 1984 together with James A. Wilson) are on the t ...
, and Ranjan Roy, ''Encyclopedia of Mathematics and Its Applications'', The University Press, Cambridge, 1999.
References
External links
George Andrews's homepage
*
*
*
Author profile
in the database zbMATH
zbMATH Open, formerly Zentralblatt MATH, is a major reviewing service providing reviews and abstracts for articles in pure mathematics, pure and applied mathematics, produced by the Berlin office of FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Informa ...
"The Meaning of Ramanujan and His Lost Notebook" by George E. Andrews, Center for Advanced Study, U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, YouTube, 2014
"Partitions, Dyson, and Ramanujan" - George Andrews, videosfromIAS, YouTube, 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, George
1938 births
Living people
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Mathematical analysts
Number theorists
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
Oregon State University alumni
University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Pennsylvania State University faculty
People from Salem, Oregon
Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Additive combinatorialists
Presidents of the American Mathematical Society
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Mathematicians from Oregon