is a Japanese

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 ...

, known for his work in

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

, particularly in relation to the classification of

three-fold In algebraic geometry, a 3-fold or threefold is a 3-dimensional algebraic variety. The Mori program showed that 3-folds have minimal models. References

* * * 3-folds, {{algebraic-geometry-stub ...

Career

Mori completed his Ph.D. titled "The Endomorphism Rings of Some Abelian Varieties" under

Masayoshi Nagata Masayoshi Nagata (Japanese: 永田雅宜 ''Nagata Masayoshi''; February 9, 1927 – August 27, 2008) was a Japanese mathematician, known for his work in the field of commutative algebra. Work Nagata's compactification theorem shows that var ...

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

in 1978. He was visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

during 1977–1980, 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 scholar ...

in 1981–82,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

1985–87 and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

for periods during 1987–89 and again during 1991–92. He has been a professor at

since 1990.

Work

He generalized the classical approach to the classification of algebraic surfaces to the classification of algebraic three-folds. The classical approach used the concept of minimal models of algebraic surfaces. He found that the concept of minimal models can be applied to three-folds as well if we allow some singularities on them. The extension of Mori's results to dimensions higher than three is called the

minimal model program In algebraic geometry, the minimal model program is part of the birational classification of algebraic varieties. Its goal is to construct a birational model of any complex projective variety which is as simple as possible. The subject has its orig ...

and is an active area of research in algebraic geometry. He has been elected president of the International Mathematical Union, becoming the first head of the group from East Asia.

Awards

He was awarded the

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...

in 1990 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 2021, he received the Order of Culture.

Major publications

* * ** * * * Kollár, János; Miyaoka, Yoichi; Mori, Shigefumi. Rationally connected varieties. J. Algebraic Geom. 1 (1992), no. 3, 429–448. * * * * Kollár, János; Mori, Shigefumi. Birational geometry of algebraic varieties. With the collaboration of C. H. Clemens and A. Corti. Translated from the 1998 Japanese original. Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics, 134. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998. viii+254 pp.

References

* *

Heisuke Hironaka is a Japanese mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970 for his contributions to algebraic geometry. Career Hironaka entered Kyoto University in 1949. After completing his undergraduate studies at Kyoto University, he received his ...

The work of Shigefumi Mori.
Fields Medallists Lectures, Michael F. Atiyah (Editor), Daniel Iagolnitzer (Editor);

World Scientific Publishing World Scientific Publishing is an academic publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals headquartered in Singapore. The company was founded in 1981. It publishes about 600 books annually, along with 135 journals in various f ...

, 2007.

External links