Helene (Hel) Braun (June 3, 1914 – May 15, 1986) was a German

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 ...

who specialized in

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 integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mat ...

and modular forms. Her autobiography, ''The Beginning of A Scientific Career,'' described her experience as a female scientist working in a male-dominated field at the time, in the

Third Reich 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 ...

. She is known for proving the convergence of the

Eisenstein series Eisenstein series, named after German mathematician Gotthold Eisenstein, are particular modular forms with infinite series expansions that may be written down directly. Originally defined for the modular group, Eisenstein series can be generaliz ...

Scientific career

Braun studied mathematics at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

from 1933 to 1937. In 1937 she worked with

Carl Ludwig Siegel Carl Ludwig Siegel (31 December 1896 – 4 April 1981) was a German mathematician specialising in analytic number theory. He is known for, amongst other things, his contributions to the Thue–Siegel–Roth theorem in Diophantine approximation, ...

in Frankfurt to study the decomposition of quadratic forms into sums of squares. Her dissertation, ''Über die Zerlegung quadratischer Formen in Quadrate'', was also supervised by Georg Aumann. After completing that work, he took her on as a scientific assistant before she became a professor in her own right teaching the theory of

Hermitian form In mathematics, a sesquilinear form is a generalization of a bilinear form that, in turn, is a generalization of the concept of the dot product of Euclidean space. A bilinear form is linear in each of its arguments, but a sesquilinear form allow ...

s in 1940. She became a lecturer at 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 ...

in 1941, becoming a full professor in 1947. From 1947 through 1948, she was a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

. In 1951, Braun moved and became a professor at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...

where she met and worked with Emil Artin and other internationally acclaimed mathematicians of the time.

Personal life

Braun never married, but in the 1960s while she was a professor at the University of Hamburg, she shared an apartment with Emil Artin, and their relationship was equivalent to marriage according to everyone who knew them. After she retired in 1981, she lived out the rest of her life in Hamburg.

Selected publications

A list of the publications by Hel Braun was published by Helmut Strade in the ''Communications of the Mathematical Society in Hamburg,'' Volume XI, Issue 4, 1987. She wrote two books: *Review of ''Jordan-Algebren'': *.Review of ''Eine Frau und die Mathematik'':

References

External links

Photos of Hel Braun
in the Oberwolfach Photo Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Hel 1914 births 1986 deaths 20th-century German mathematicians Women mathematicians University of Marburg alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Hamburg