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Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Olegviro (talk | contribs) at 18:02, 5 January 2020 (Removed association of Rokhlin to Azerbaijani Jews (his parents came from Ukraine and Belorussia), removed reference to a subsequent generalization of Rokhlin's theorem by Hirzebruch (it was other theorem that was generalized by Hirzebruch), added topology of real algebraic varieties (as an area of topology in which Rokhlin worked)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other people named Vladimir Rokhlin, see Vladimir Rokhlin (disambiguation).
Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin
Vladimir Rokhlin in Leningrad, 1966.
Born(1919-08-23)August 23, 1919
Baku, Azerbaijan
DiedDecember 3, 1984(1984-12-03) (aged 65)
Leningrad, Soviet Union
CitizenshipCitizen of the Soviet Union
EducationMoscow State University (1935-1941)
Known for
ChildrenVladimir Rokhlin, Jr.
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsLeningrad State University
Academic advisorsAbraham Plessner
Notable students

Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin ( Russian: Влади́мир Абра́мович Ро́хлин) (23 August 1919 – 3 December 1984) was an Soviet mathematician, who made numerous contributions in algebraic topology, geometry, measure theory, probability theory, ergodic theory and entropy theory.[1]

Life

Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, to a wealthy family.[2] His mother, Henrietta Emmanuilovna Levenson, had studied medicine in France (she died in Baku in 1923, believed to have been killed during civil unrest provoked by an epidemic). His maternal grandmother, Clara Levenson, had been one of the first female doctors in Russia. His maternal grandfather Emmanuil Levenson was a wealthy businessman (he was also the illegitimate father of Korney Chukovsky, who was thus Henrietta's half-brother). Vladimir Rokhlin's father Abram Veniaminovich Rokhlin was a well-known social democrat (he was imprisoned during Stalin's Great Purge, and executed in 1941).[3]

Vladimir Rokhlin entered Moscow State University in 1935. His advisor was Abraham Plessner. He volunteered for the army in 1941, leading to four years as a prisoner of a German war camp, and then two years in a Soviet checking camp after the end of the war on suspicion of being a German or/and Western spy. Due to intercession by Andrey Kolmogorov and Lev Pontryagin, he was released and then returned to mathematics.

Since 1959 he was at Leningrad State University, where he was a teacher.

He died in 1984 in Leningrad. His students include Viatcheslav Kharlamov, Yakov Eliashberg, Mikhail Gromov, Nikolai V. Ivanov, Anatoly Vershik and Oleg Viro.[4]

Work

Rokhlin's contributions to topology include Rokhlin's theorem, a result of 1952 on the signature of 4-manifolds. He also worked in the theory of characteristic classes, homotopy theory, cobordism theory, and in the topology of real algebraic varieties.

In measure theory, Rokhlin introduced what are now called Rokhlin partitions. He introduced the notion of standard probability space, and characterised such spaces up to isomorphism mod 0. He also proved the famous Rokhlin lemma.

Family

His son Vladimir Rokhlin, Jr. is a well-known mathematician and computer scientist at Yale University.

Rokhlin's uncle was Korney Chukovsky, a well-known Russian poet, most famous for his popular children's books.

Notes

  1. ^ see Vershik (1989), Arnol'd (1986)
  2. ^ see Turaev & Vershik (2001), p.8
  3. ^ see Turaev & Vershik (2001), p. 1
  4. ^ Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

References

  • Arnol'd, V.; et al. (1986), "Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin (obituary)", Russ. Math. Surv., 41 (3): 189–195, doi:10.1070/RM1986v041n03ABEH003331, MR 0854242
  • Topology, ergodic theory, real algebraic geometry: Rokhlin's Memorial, American Mathematical Society Translations: Series 2, vol. 202, Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society, 2001, doi:10.1090/trans2/202, hdl:11693/48903, ISBN 9780821827406, MR 1819175 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  • Vershik, A.M. (1989), "Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin—A biographical tribute (23.8.1919–3.12.1984)", Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems, 9 (4), Cambridge University Press: 629–641, doi:10.1017/S0143385700005265, MR 1036901

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