2-68. Ivar Fredholm

Ivar Fredholm (1866–1927) was born in Stockholm to a wealthy family, and studied at the Royal Technological Institute and the University of Uppsala, where he obtained the Master of Science degree in 1888. He obtained the Ph.D. in Uppsala in 1893. Upon obtaining the Doctor of Science degree from Uppsala in 1898, he was engaged as a lecturer in mathematical physics at the University of Stockholm. In 1906, he was named to the chair in mechanics and mathematical physics.

Fredholm made signal contributions to the theory of integral equations and spectral theory. In 1899, he submitted a note on the theory of partial diffential equations to Poincaré for publication in the Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy (Fredholm, 1899). Poincaré communicated the note to the Academy, after which Fredholm sent him a letter of thanks, with an outline of his work-in-progress (§ 2-68-1). Notably, he underlined his hope to realize progress on the Dirichlet Problem, with which Poincaré had recently been engaged. Over the next three years, Fredholm published a series of seminal papers, which inspired major advances by David Hilbert and Erhard Schmidt in Göttingen.11endnote: 1 Historical studies of these developments include Dieudonné (1981); Siegmund-Schultze (2003); Archibald and Tazzioli (2014).

Fredholm’s work was recognized in 1908 by the Poncelet prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences. For biographical details and an appreciation of his contributions, see Zeilon (1955), and MacTutor.

Time-stamp: " 4.12.2024 18:29"

Notes

  • 1 Historical studies of these developments include Dieudonné (1981); Siegmund-Schultze (2003); Archibald and Tazzioli (2014).

References

  • T. Archibald and R. Tazzioli (2014) Integral equations between theory and practice: the cases of Italy and France to 1920. Archive for History of Exact Science 68, pp. 547–597. link1, link2 Cited by: endnote 1.
  • J. Dieudonné (1981) History of Functional Analysis. North-Holland, Amsterdam. Cited by: endnote 1.
  • I. Fredholm (1899) Sur une classe d’équations aux dérivées partielles. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences de Paris 129, pp. 32–34. link1 Cited by: 2-68. Ivar Fredholm.
  • H. N. Jahnke (Ed.) (2003) A History of Analysis. American Mathematical Society, Providence. Cited by: R. Siegmund-Schultze (2003).
  • Mittag-Leffler Institute (Ed.) (1955) Oeuvres complètes d’Ivar Fredholm. Litos Reprotryck, Malmö. Cited by: N. Zeilon (1955).
  • R. Siegmund-Schultze (2003) The origins of functional analysis. See A History of Analysis, Jahnke, History of Mathematics, Vol. 24, pp. 385–408. Cited by: endnote 1.
  • N. Zeilon (1955) Biographie d’Ivar Fredholm. See Oeuvres complètes d’Ivar Fredholm, Mittag-Leffler Institute, pp. I–XVI. Cited by: 2-68. Ivar Fredholm.