Gilbert Agnew Hunt, Jr. (March 4, 1916 – May 30, 2008)
was an American mathematician and amateur
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player active in the 1930s and 1940s.
Early life and education
Hunt was born in Washington, D.C. and attended
Eastern High School.
Tennis career
Hunt reached the quarterfinals of the
U.S. National Championships in
1938
Events
January
* January 1
** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...
and
1939
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Third Reich
*** Jews are forbidden to ...
.
Scientific career
Hunt received his bachelor's degree from
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, preside ...
in 1938 and his Ph.D. from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in 1948 under
Salomon Bochner
Salomon Bochner (20 August 1899 – 2 May 1982) was an Austrian mathematician, known for work in mathematical analysis, probability theory and differential geometry.
Life
He was born into a Jewish family in Podgórze (near Kraków), then Aus ...
. Hunt became a mathematics professor at Princeton University specializing in
probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set o ...
,
Markov process
A Markov chain or Markov process is a stochastic model describing a sequence of possible events in which the probability of each event depends only on the state attained in the previous event. Informally, this may be thought of as, "What happe ...
es, and
potential theory
In mathematics and mathematical physics, potential theory is the study of harmonic functions.
The term "potential theory" was coined in 19th-century physics when it was realized that two fundamental forces of nature known at the time, namely gravi ...
.
The
Hunt process is named after him. He was an Invited Speaker at the
ICM in 1962 in Stockholm. His doctoral students include
Robert McCallum Blumenthal and
Richard M. Dudley.
Hunt's theorem
Selected publications
*
*with
Paul Erdős
Paul Erdős ( hu, Erdős Pál ; 26 March 1913 – 20 September 1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the most prolific mathematicians and producers of mathematical conjectures of the 20th century. pursued and proposed problems in ...
:
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*
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References
External links
*
* Kitta MacPherson
''Gilbert Hunt, probability expert, dies at 92'' «Princeton Weekly Bulletin» June 16, 2008, Vol. 97, No. 29.
*
*
Gilbert Agnew Hunt, Jr. - Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
1916 births
2008 deaths
People from Washington, D.C.
American male tennis players
George Washington University alumni
Princeton University alumni
Probability theorists
Cornell University faculty
Princeton University faculty
Eastern High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni
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