Gábor Szegő () (January 20, 1895 – August 7, 1985) was a Hungarian-American mathematician. He was one of the foremost
mathematical analysts
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
of his generation and made fundamental contributions to the theory of
orthogonal polynomials
In mathematics, an orthogonal polynomial sequence is a family of polynomials such that any two different polynomials in the sequence are orthogonality, orthogonal to each other under some inner product.
The most widely used orthogonal polynomial ...
and
Toeplitz matrices In linear algebra, a Toeplitz matrix or diagonal-constant matrix, named after Otto Toeplitz, is a matrix in which each descending diagonal from left to right is constant. For instance, the following matrix is a Toeplitz matrix:
:\qquad\begin
a & b ...
building on the work of his contemporary
Otto Toeplitz
Otto Toeplitz (1 August 1881 – 15 February 1940) was a German mathematician working in functional analysis., reprinted in
Life and work
Toeplitz was born to a Jewish family of mathematicians. Both his father and grandfather were ''Gymnasiu ...
.
Life
Szegő was born in
Kunhegyes
Kunhegyes is a town in northeast Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, which is situated in Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(today
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
), into a
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish family as the son of Adolf Szegő and Hermina Neuman.
[Biography on the homepage of Kunhegyes](_blank)
(in Hungarian) He married the chemist Anna Elisabeth Neményi in 1919, with whom he had two children.
In 1912 he started studies in
mathematical physics
Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...
at the
University of Budapest
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
, with summer visits to the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
and the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
, where he attended lectures by
Frobenius and
Hilbert
David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many ...
, amongst others. In Budapest he was taught mainly by
Fejér,
Beke,
Kürschák and Bauer and made the acquaintance of his future collaborators
George Pólya
George Pólya (; hu, Pólya György, ; December 13, 1887 – September 7, 1985) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental ...
and
Michael Fekete
Michael (Mihály) Fekete ( he, מיכאל פקטה; 19 July 1886 – 13 May 1957) was a Hungarian-Israeli mathematician.
Biography
Fekete was born in 1886 in Zenta, Austria-Hungary (today Senta, Serbia). He received his PhD in 1909 from ...
. His studies were interrupted in 1915 by
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, in which he served in the infantry, artillery and air corps.
In 1918 while stationed in Vienna, he was awarded a
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 ...
by the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
for his work on
Toeplitz determinants. He received his
Privat-Dozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
from the University of Berlin in 1921, where he stayed until being appointed as successor to
Knopp at the
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...
in 1926. Intolerable working conditions during the
Nazi regime
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
resulted in a temporary position at the
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
in 1936, before his appointment as chairman of the mathematics department at
Stanford University
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 consider ...
in 1938, where he helped build up the department until his retirement in 1966. He died in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
. His doctoral students include
Paul Rosenbloom
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
and
Joseph Ullman. The Gábor Szegö Prize, Szegő Gábor Primary School, and Szegő Gábor Matematikaverseny (a mathematics competition in his former school) are all named in his honor.
Works
Szegő's most important work was in
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 ...
. He was one of the foremost analysts of his generation and made fundamental contributions to the theory of
Toeplitz matrices In linear algebra, a Toeplitz matrix or diagonal-constant matrix, named after Otto Toeplitz, is a matrix in which each descending diagonal from left to right is constant. For instance, the following matrix is a Toeplitz matrix:
:\qquad\begin
a & b ...
and
orthogonal polynomials
In mathematics, an orthogonal polynomial sequence is a family of polynomials such that any two different polynomials in the sequence are orthogonality, orthogonal to each other under some inner product.
The most widely used orthogonal polynomial ...
. He wrote over 130 papers in several languages. Each of his four books, several written in collaboration with others, has become a classic in its field. The monograph ''
Orthogonal polynomials
In mathematics, an orthogonal polynomial sequence is a family of polynomials such that any two different polynomials in the sequence are orthogonality, orthogonal to each other under some inner product.
The most widely used orthogonal polynomial ...
'', published in 1939, contains much of his research and has had a profound influence in many areas of
applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...
, including
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...
,
stochastic process
In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that appea ...
es and
numerical analysis
Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic computation, symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of ...
.
Tutoring von Neumann
At the age of 15, the young
John von Neumann
John von Neumann (; hu, Neumann János Lajos, ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He was regarded as having perhaps the widest cove ...
, recognised as a mathematical prodigy, was sent to study advanced calculus under Szegő. On their first meeting, Szegő was so astounded by von Neumann's mathematical talent and speed that he was brought to tears. Szegő subsequently visited the von Neumann house twice a week to tutor the child prodigy. Some of von Neumann's instant solutions to the problems in calculus posed by Szegő, sketched out on his father's stationery, are now on display at the von Neumann archive at Budapest.
Honours
Amongst the many honours received during his lifetime were:
*
Julius König Prize of the Hungarian Mathematical Society (1928)
* Member of the
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
er Gelehrten Gesellschaft (1928)
* Corresponding member of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna (1960)
* Honorary member of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...
(1965)
Bibliography
*
*
*
*; 2nd edn. 1955
*
*
Selected articles
*
*
*
**
*
*
*
*with
A. C. Schaeffer:
*
*
*with Max Schiffer:
*
*with Albert Edrei:
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szego, Gabor
1895 births
1985 deaths
20th-century Hungarian mathematicians
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Austro-Hungarian mathematicians
Hungarian emigrants to the United States
Hungarian Jews
Mathematical analysts
People from Kunhegyes
Stanford University Department of Mathematics faculty
Washington University in St. Louis faculty
Washington University in St. Louis mathematicians