Biography:Shlomo Sternberg

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Short description: American mathematician
Shlomo Sternberg
Born (1936-11-20) November 20, 1936 (age 87)
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship, 1974
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsHarvard University
New York University
University of Chicago
ThesisSome Problems in Discrete Nonlinear Transformations in One and Two Dimensions (1955)
Doctoral advisorAurel Friedrich Wintner
Doctoral studentsVictor Guillemin
Ravindra Kulkarni
Yael Karshon
Steve Shnider
Israel Michael Sigal
Sandy Zabell [de]
Websitehttps://www.math.harvard.edu/people/sternberg-shlomo/

Shlomo Zvi Sternberg (born 1936), is an American mathematician known for his work in geometry, particularly symplectic geometry and Lie theory.

Education and career

Sternberg earned his PhD in 1955 from Johns Hopkins University, with a thesis entitled "Some Problems in Discrete Nonlinear Transformations in One and Two Dimensions", supervised by Aurel Wintner.[1]

After postdoctoral work at New York University (1956–1957) and an instructorship at University of Chicago (1957–1959), Sternberg joined the Mathematics Department at Harvard University in 1959, where he was George Putnam Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics until 2017. Since 2017, he is Emeritus Professor at the Harvard Mathematics Department.[2]

Among other honors, Sternberg was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 1974[3] and a honorary doctorate by the University of Mannheim in 1991.[4][5] He delivered the AMS Colloquium Lecture in 1990[6] and the Hebrew University's Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture in 2006.[7]

Sternberg was elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969,[8] of the National Academy of Sciences in 1986,[9] of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences In 1999,[10] and of the American Philosophical Society in 2010.[11]

Research

Sternberg's first well-known published result, based on his PhD thesis, is known as the "Sternberg linearization theorem" which asserts that a smooth map near a hyperbolic fixed point can be made linear by a smooth change of coordinates provided that certain non-resonance conditions are satisfied. He also proved generalizations of the Birkhoff canonical form theorems for volume preserving mappings in n-dimensions and symplectic mappings, all in the smooth case.[12][13][14]

In the 1960s Sternberg became involved with Isadore Singer in the project of revisiting Élie Cartan's papers from the early 1900s on the classification of the simple transitive infinite Lie pseudogroups, and of relating Cartan's results to recent results in the theory of G-structures and supplying rigorous (by present-day standards) proofs of his main theorems.[15] Also, together with Victor Guillemin and Daniel Quillen, he extended this classification to a larger class of pseudogroups: the primitive infinite pseudogroups. As a by-product, they also obtained the " integrability of characteristics" theorem for over-determined systems of partial differential equations.[16]

Sternberg provided major contributions also to the topic of Lie group actions on symplectic manifolds, in particular involving various aspects of the theory of symplectic reduction. For instance, together with Bertram Kostant he showed how to use reduction techniques to give a rigorous mathematical treatment of what is known in the physics literature as the BRS quantization procedure.[17] Together with David Kazhdan and Bertram Kostant, he showed how one can simplify the analysis of dynamical systems of Calogero type by describing them as symplectic reductions of much simpler systems.[18] Together with Victor Guillemin he gave the first rigorous formulation and proof of a hitherto vague assertion about Lie group actions on symplectic manifolds, namely the Quantization commutes with reduction conjecture.[19]

This last work was also the inspiration for a result in equivariant symplectic geometry that disclosed for the first time a surprising and unexpected connection between the theory of Hamiltonian torus actions on compact symplectic manifolds and the theory of convex polytopes. This theorem, the "AGS convexity theorem," was simultaneously proved by Guillemin-Sternberg[20] and Michael Atiyah[21] in the early 1980s.

Sternberg's contributions to symplectic geometry and Lie theory have also included a number of basic textbooks on these subjects, among them the three graduate level texts with Victor Guillemin: "Geometric Asymptotics,"[22] "Symplectic Techniques in Physics",[23] and "Semi-Classical Analysis".[24] His "Lectures on Differential Geometry"[25] is a popular standard textbook for upper-level undergraduate courses on differential manifolds, the calculus of variations, Lie theory and the geometry of G-structures. He also published the more recent "Curvature in mathematics and physics".[26]

Sternberg has, in addition, played a role in recent developments in theoretical physics. He has worked with Yuval Ne'eman on supersymmetry in elementary particle physics, exploring from this perspective the Higgs mechanism, the method of spontaneous symmetry breaking and a unified approach to the theory of quarks and leptons.[27]

Religion

Sternberg is Jewish and a Rabbi.[8] He was among the mathematicians who debunked the mathematics foundations of Michael Drosnin's controversial claims in The Bible Code.[28][29][30]

Sternberg is described by rabbi Herschel Schachter of Yeshiva University as "a big genius in learning and math" who played a role in establishing that swordfish is kosher.[31]

Selected monographs and books

  • Shlomo Sternberg (2019) A Mathematical Companion to Quantum Mechanics Dover Publications ISBN:9780486826899 ISBN:0486826899
  • Shlomo Zvi Sternberg and Lynn Harold Loomis (2014) Advanced Calculus (Revised Edition) World Scientific Publishing ISBN:978-981-4583-92-3; 978-981-4583-93-0
  • Victor Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg (2013) Semi-Classical Analysis International Press of Boston ISBN:978-1571462763
  • Shlomo Sternberg (2012) Lectures on Symplectic Geometry (in Mandarin) Lecture notes of Mathematical Science Center of Tsingua University, International Press ISBN:978-7-302-29498-6
  • Shlomo Sternberg (2012) Curvature in Mathematics and Physics Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN:978-0486478555[32]
  • Sternberg, Shlomo (2010). Dynamical Systems Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN:978-0486477053
  • Shlomo Sternberg (2004), Lie algebras, Harvard University
  • Victor Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg (1999) Supersymmetry and Equivariant de Rham Theory 1999 Springer Verlag ISBN:978-3540647973
  • Victor Guillemin, Eugene Lerman, and Shlomo Sternberg, (1996) Symplectic Fibrations and Multiplicity Diagrams Cambridge University Press
  • Shlomo Sternberg (1994) Group Theory and Physics Cambridge University Press. ISBN:0-521-24870-1[33]
  • Steven Shnider and Shlomo Sternberg (1993) Quantum Groups. From Coalgebras to Drinfeld Algebras: A Guided Tour (Mathematical Physics Ser.) International Press
  • Victor Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg (1990) Variations on a Theme by Kepler; reprint, 2006 Colloquium Publications ISBN:978-0821841846
  • Paul Bamberg and Shlomo Sternberg (1988) A Course in Mathematics for Students of Physics Volume 1 1991 Cambridge University Press. ISBN:978-0521406499
  • Paul Bamberg and Shlomo Sternberg (1988) A Course in Mathematics for Students of Physics Volume 2 1991 Cambridge University Press. ISBN:978-0521406505
  • Victor Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg (1984) Symplectic Techniques in Physics, 1990 Cambridge University Press ISBN:978-0521389907[34]
  • Guillemin, Victor and Sternberg, Shlomo (1977) Geometric asymptotics Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. ISBN:0-8218-1514-8; reprinted in 1990 as an on-line book
  • Shlomo Sternberg (1969) Celestial Mechanics Part I W.A. Benjamin[35][36]
  • Shlomo Sternberg (1969) Celestial Mechanics Part II W.A. Benjamin[35]
  • Lynn H. Loomis, and Shlomo Sternberg (1968) Advanced Calculus Boston (World Scientific Publishing Company 2014); text available on-line
  • Victor Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg (1966) Deformation Theory of Pseudogroup Structures American Mathematical Society
  • Shlomo Sternberg (1964) Lectures on differential geometry New York: Chelsea (1093) ISBN:0-8284-0316-3.[37]
  • I. M. Singer and Shlomo Sternberg (1965) The infinite groups of Lie and Cartan. Part I. The transitive groups, Journal d'Analyse Mathématique 15, 1—114.[15]

See also

References

  1. "Shlomo Sternberg – The Mathematics Genealogy Project". https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=10465. 
  2. "Harvard Mathematics Department Alumini, Faculty, Staff, Students & More". http://www.math.harvard.edu/people. 
  3. "Shlomo Sternberg" (in en-US). https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/shlomo-sternberg/. 
  4. "Honors" (in en). https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/getting-involved/honors/. 
  5. "Historical List" (in en). https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/getting-involved/honors/historical-list/. 
  6. "Colloquium Lectures" (in en). https://www.ams.org/meetings/lectures/meet-colloquium-lect. 
  7. "The Annual Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture". https://academy.ac.il/Index/Entry.aspx?nodeId=936&entryId=19671. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Shlomo Zvi Sternberg" (in en). https://www.amacad.org/person/shlomo-zvi-sternberg. 
  9. "Shlomo Sternberg". http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/40329.html. 
  10. "Relación de académicos desde el año 1847 hasta el 2003" (in es). 2003. https://rac.es/ficheros/doc/00186.pdf. 
  11. "APS Member History". https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=sternberg&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced. 
  12. Sternberg, Shlomo (1958). "On the Structure of Local Homeomorphisms of Euclidean n-Space, II". American Journal of Mathematics 80 (3): 623–631. doi:10.2307/2372774. ISSN 0002-9327. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2372774. 
  13. Sternberg, Shlomo (1957). "Local Contractions and a Theorem of Poincare". American Journal of Mathematics 79 (4): 809–824. doi:10.2307/2372437. ISSN 0002-9327. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2372437. 
  14. Bruhat, François (1960–1961). "Travaux de Sternberg". Séminaire Bourbaki 6: 179–196. ISSN 0303-1179. https://eudml.org/doc/109610. 
  15. 15.0 15.1 Singer, I. M.; Sternberg, Shlomo (December 1, 1965). "The infinite groups of Lie and Cartan Part I, (The transitive groups)" (in en). Journal d'Analyse Mathématique 15 (1): 1–114. doi:10.1007/BF02787690. ISSN 1565-8538. 
  16. Guillemin, V.; Quillen, D.; Sternberg, S. (1966). "The classification of the complex primitive infinite pseudogroups" (in en). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 55 (4): 687–690. doi:10.1073/pnas.55.4.687. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 16591345. 
  17. Kostant, Bertram; Sternberg, Shlomo (May 15, 1987). "Symplectic reduction, BRS cohomology, and infinite-dimensional Clifford algebras" (in en). Annals of Physics 176 (1): 49–113. doi:10.1016/0003-4916(87)90178-3. ISSN 0003-4916. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0003-4916%2887%2990178-3. 
  18. Kazhdan, D.; Kostant, B.; Sternberg, S. (1978). "Hamiltonian group actions and dynamical systems of Calogero type" (in en). Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics 31 (4): 481–507. doi:10.1002/cpa.3160310405. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpa.3160310405. 
  19. Guillemin, V.; Sternberg, S. (October 1, 1982). "Geometric quantization and multiplicities of group representations" (in en). Inventiones Mathematicae 67 (3): 515–538. doi:10.1007/BF01398934. ISSN 1432-1297. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01398934. 
  20. Guillemin, V.; Sternberg, S. (October 1, 1982). "Convexity properties of the moment mapping" (in en). Inventiones Mathematicae 67 (3): 491–513. doi:10.1007/BF01398933. ISSN 1432-1297. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01398933. 
  21. Atiyah, M. F. (1982). "Convexity and Commuting Hamiltonians" (in en). Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 14 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1112/blms/14.1.1. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1112/blms/14.1.1. 
  22. Sternberg, Shlomo (December 31, 1977). Geometric Asymptotics. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 0821816330. 
  23. Sternberg, Shlomo (May 25, 1990). Symplectic Techniques in Physics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521389909. 
  24. Sternberg, Shlomo (September 11, 2013). Semi-Classical Analysis. International Press of Boston. ISBN 978-1571462763. 
  25. Sternberg, Shlomo (March 11, 1999). Lectures on Differential Geometry. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 0821813854. 
  26. Sternberg, Shlomo (August 22, 2012). Curvature in mathematics and physics. Dover Books on Mathematics. ISBN 978-0486478555. 
  27. Ne'eman, Yuval; Sternberg, Shlomo (1980). "Internal supersymmetry and unification" (in en). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 77 (6): 3127–3131. doi:10.1073/pnas.77.6.3127. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 16592837. 
  28. Jackson, Allyn; Sternberg, Shlomo (1997). "The Bible Code". Notices of the AMS 44 (8): 935–939. https://www.ams.org/notices/199708/review-allyn.pdf. 
  29. Sternberg, Shlomo (August 1997). "Snake Oil for Sale". Bible Review 13 (4). https://www.baslibrary.org/bible-review/13/4/17. 
  30. Mag, J. A. (June 1, 2008). "Torah Codes Revisited" (in en). https://jewishaction.com/religion/jewish-thought/torah_codes_revisited/. 
  31. Schachter, Hershel (April 2018). "Is Swordfish Kosher?". The Jewish Press. https://www.mywesternwall.net/2019/06/11/is-swordfish-kosher.html. 
  32. Ruane, P. N. (November 8, 2012). "Review of Curvature in Mathematics and Physics by Shlomo Sternberg". https://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews/curvature-in-mathematics-and-physics. 
  33. Humphreys, James E. (1995). "Review: Group theory and physics by S. Sternberg". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 32 (4): 455–457. doi:10.1090/s0273-0979-1995-00612-9. http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1995-32-04/S0273-0979-1995-00612-9/S0273-0979-1995-00612-9.pdf. 
  34. Duistermaat, J. J. (1988). "Review: Symplectic techniques in physics by Victor Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 18 (1): 97–100. doi:10.1090/s0273-0979-1988-15620-0. http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1988-18-01/S0273-0979-1988-15620-0/S0273-0979-1988-15620-0.pdf. 
  35. 35.0 35.1 Arnold, V. (1972). "Review of Celestial Mechanics I, II by S. Sternberg". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 78 (6): 962–963. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1972-13067-2. http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1972-78-06/S0002-9904-1972-13067-2/S0002-9904-1972-13067-2.pdf. 
  36. Pollard, Harry (1976). "Review of Celestial Mechanics, Part I by Shlomo Sternberg". SIAM Review 18 (1): 132. doi:10.1137/1018021. 
  37. Hermann, R. (1965). "Review: Lectures on differential geometry by S. Sternberg". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 71 (1): 332–337. doi:10.1090/S0002-9904-1965-11286-1. http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1965-71-02/S0002-9904-1965-11286-1/S0002-9904-1965-11286-1.pdf. 

External links