Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov
Alexander Danilovich Aleksandrov (Russian Александр Данилович Александров; * August 4, 1912 in Volyn region, province of Ryazan, Russian Empire (now Ryazan Oblast, Russia), † 27 July 1999, Moscow) was a Russian mathematician.
Life and work
Alexandrov was the son of a teacher couple in St. Petersburg, where he grew up. He studied physics from 1929 ( among others, Vladimir Fock ) and mathematics ( with Boris Delone ) at the University of Leningrad. From 1930 he was at the State Optical Institute (GOI ) and then at the Physics Institute of the University, where in 1933 he graduated with a degree in theoretical physics. Also starting in 1933, he taught at the Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics at the University of Leningrad, in 1935 he received his doctorate and in 1937 he received his habilitation (Russian doctor ). He was then in 1937 Professor of Geometry at the University of Leningrad, while at the Leningrad branch of the Steklov Institute ( Lomi, today PDMI ). During the Second World War he was evacuated to the Steklov Institute in Kazan, but in 1944 as professor back to Leningrad. 1952 to 1964 he was rector of the University of Leningrad, and he made it possible in 1959 for the re-establishment of the Leningrad Mathematical Society ( with Vladimir Smirnov ), which had been founded in 1890 but was closed for political reasons. 1964 to 1986 he was at the University of Novosibirsk, where he was also head of the Laboratory of Geometry in the Mathematical Institute of the Siberian Academy of Sciences. In 1986 he was back in Leningrad, as head of the laboratory of the geometry Lomi.
Aleksandrov worked in theoretical physics under the influence of Fock ( he also published work on quantum mechanics), but at the same time early on convex polyhedrons and geometry of the crystals under the influence of Delone. He worked mainly on the differential geometry of surfaces. According to him, Alexandrov spaces are named.
His PhD is one of Grigori Perelman.
In 1942 he was awarded the Stalin Prize ( State Award ) and 1951, the Lobachevsky Medal. From 1946 he was a corresponding and in 1964 a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 1975 he was a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Like his teacher Delone he was passionate mountain climber. In 1958 he gave a plenary lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Edinburgh (Modern Developments in Surface Theory).
He was not with the Russian mathematician Pavel Alexandrov (which is also the Steklov Institute was ) be confused.
Writings
- Selected Works, Vol.1, Gordon and Breach 1996, Vol 2, Chapman and Hall 2005
- Convex Polyhedra, Springer 2005
- Boris Delone, Padurow: Mathematical Fundamentals of structural analysis of crystals in 1934 (Russian)