Lars Gårding (7 March 1919 – 7 July 2014) was a Swedish

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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He made notable contributions to the study of

partial differential equation In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to ho ...

s and partial differential operators. He was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of mathematics at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in Sweden 1952–1984. Together with Marcel Riesz, he was a thesis advisor for Lars Hörmander.

Biography

Gårding was born in Hedemora, Sweden but grew up in

Motala Motala () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Motala Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with a municipal population of 43,717 inhabitants in 2024. It is the third largest city of Östergötland, following Linköping and N ...

, where his father was an engineer at the plant. He began to study mathematics in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

in 1937 with the first intention of becoming an

actuary An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require investment management, asset management, ...

. His doctorate thesis, which was written under supervision of Marcel Riesz, was first on group representations in 1944, but in the following years he changed his research focus to the theory of

partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to how ...

. He held the professorship of mathematics at

from 1952 until retirement in 1984. His interest was not limited to mathematics, but also in art, literature and music. He played the violin and the piano. Further, he published a book on bird songs and calls in 1987, a result of his interest in bird watching. Gårding was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in 1953 and of the

Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters (, , ) is a Finnish learned society for natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. It is a bilingual (Swedish and Finnish) science academy and the oldest of the four science academies in Finland. ...

in 1985. Gårding died on 7 July 2014, aged 95.

Selected works

;Books * 1977. ''Encounter with Mathematics'', 1st Edition. * 2012
''Encounter with Mathematics''
softcover reprint of the 1st 1977 edition. Springer ;Articles * *

References

External links

* * (with extracts from book reviews and prefaces) 1919 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Swedish mathematicians People connected to Lund University Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Partial differential equation theorists People from Hedemora {{Sweden-mathematician-stub