Ellis Kolchin

Ellis Robert Kolchin ( born April 18, 1916 in New York City; † 30 October 1991 ) was an American mathematician.

Kolchin studied at Columbia University, where he received his doctorate in 1941 with Joseph Ritt ( On the Exponents of Differential Ideals, Annals of Mathematics 1941), but published earlier with ride. During the Second World War he worked for the secret service of the U.S. Navy in Washington, DC and the Pacific. He then returned to Columbia University, where he became a professor, where he retired in 1986, but further researched and thereafter. He has been a visiting scholar at the Sorbonne ( in 1954/55 as a Guggenheim Fellow ) and the University of Paris (1960 /61), at the Institute for Advanced Study, at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and at RIMS in Kyoto. In 1965 he lectured in the Soviet Union, facilitated by the fact that he spoke fluent Russian.

Like his teacher ride he worked on algebraic theory of differential equations and differential algebra, in particular the Galois theory of bodies of differentials. He was considered an authority in the field of differential algebra and headed about 30 years a seminar at Columbia University.

He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1975 he was Colloquium Lecturer of the American Mathematical Society. In 1966 he was invited speaker at the ICM in Moscow ( Some problems in differential algebra ).

Writings

• Differential algebra and algebraic groups, Academic Press 1973
• Differential algebraic groups, Academic Press 1985
• Hyman Bass, Alexandru Buium, Phyllis Cassidy: Selected Works of Ellis Kolchin with Commentary, American Mathematical Society 1999