Robert Vaughan Moody, (; born November 28, 1941) is a Canadian

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 ...

. He is the co-discover of

Kac–Moody algebra In mathematics, a Kac–Moody algebra (named for Victor Kac and Robert Moody, who independently and simultaneously discovered them in 1968) is a Lie algebra, usually infinite-dimensional, that can be defined by generators and relations through a g ...

, a Lie algebra, usually infinite-dimensional, that can be defined through a generalized

root system In mathematics, a root system is a configuration of vectors in a Euclidean space satisfying certain geometrical properties. The concept is fundamental in the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, especially the classification and representatio ...

. "Almost simultaneously in 1967,

Victor Kac Victor Gershevich (Grigorievich) Kac (russian: link=no, Виктор Гершевич (Григорьевич) Кац; born 19 December 1943) is a Soviet and American mathematician at MIT, known for his work in representation theory. He co-disco ...

in the USSR and Robert Moody in Canada developed what was to become Kac–Moody algebra. Kac and Moody noticed that if

Wilhelm Killing Wilhelm Karl Joseph Killing (10 May 1847 – 11 February 1923) was a German mathematician who made important contributions to the theories of Lie algebras, Lie groups, and non-Euclidean geometry. Life Killing studied at the University of Mü ...

's conditions were relaxed, it was still possible to associate to the

Cartan matrix In mathematics, the term Cartan matrix has three meanings. All of these are named after the French mathematician Élie Cartan. Amusingly, the Cartan matrices in the context of Lie algebras were first investigated by Wilhelm Killing, whereas the Ki ...

a Lie algebra which, necessarily, would be infinite dimensional." - A. J. Coleman Born in Great Britain, he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Mathematics in 1962 from the

University of Saskatchewan 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, ...

, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in Mathematics in 1964 from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1966 from the University of Toronto. In 1966, he joined the Department of Mathematics as an assistant professor in the University of Saskatchewan. In 1970, he was appointed an associate professor and a professor in 1976. In 1989, he joined the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

as a professor in the Department of Mathematics. In 1999, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. In 1980, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1996 Moody and Kac were co-winners of the

Wigner Medal The International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics is an academic conference devoted to applications of group theory to physics. It was founded in 1972 by Henri Bacry and Aloysio Janner. It hosts a colloquium every two years. Th ...

Selected works

* * *with S. Berman: *with J. Patera: *with Bremner & Patera: ''Tables of weight space multiplicities'', Marcel Dekker 1983 *with A. Pianzola: *with S. Kass, J. Patera, & R. Slansky: ''Affine Lie Algebras, weight multiplicities and branching rules'', 2 vols., University of California Press 199
vol. 1 books.google
*with Pianzola: ''Lie algebras with triangular decompositions'', Canadian Mathematical Society Series, John Wiley 1995 *with Baake & Grimm: ''Die verborgene Ordnung der Quasikristalle'', Spektrum, Feb. 2002
''What is Aperiodic Order?'', Eng. trans. on arxiv.org

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Robert 1941 births Living people British emigrants to Canada Canadian mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada University of Toronto alumni University of Alberta faculty University of Saskatchewan faculty University of Saskatchewan alumni