Angus Macintyre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Angus MacIntyre
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Angus Macintyre in 2009
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Angus John MacIntyre
1941 (age 83–84) |
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| Institutions | Queen Mary University of London University of Edinburgh University of Oxford Yale University |
| Thesis | Classifying Pairs of Real-Closed Fields (1968) |
| Doctoral advisor | Dana Scott |
| Doctoral students | Zoé Chatzidakis Peter Winkler Francisco Miraglia |
Angus John Macintyre, born in 1941, is a famous British mathematician. He is known for his important work in a field called model theory. This area of math uses logic to study different mathematical structures. He also applies his ideas to other parts of math like algebra and number theory. He used to be a professor at Queen Mary University of London.
Education and Early Career
Angus Macintyre studied at the University of Cambridge first. He then went on to earn his PhD degree in 1968. He completed his advanced studies at Stanford University in the United States. His PhD advisor was a well-known mathematician named Dana Scott.
His Amazing Career
Angus Macintyre has taught at many top universities around the world. From 1973 to 1985, he was a professor at Yale University. After that, he moved to the University of Oxford in England. There, he was a Professor of Mathematical Logic from 1985 to 1999.
In 1999, he moved to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He was a Professor of Mathematics there until 2002. Then, he joined Queen Mary University of London. He also helped start the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) in Edinburgh. He was its first Scientific Director.
Big Achievements in Math
Angus Macintyre is famous for many important discoveries in mathematics.
Understanding Groups and Fields
In 1971, he helped classify certain types of mathematical groups and fields. This work was very important for a part of math called geometric stability theory.
Work with P-adic Fields
In 1976, he proved a key result about "p-adic fields." This led to new ways of studying shapes and structures in these fields. Other mathematicians, like Jan Denef and Lou van den Dries, used his work.
His theorem was later used by Jan Denef in 1984. It helped solve a puzzle by Jean-Pierre Serre about certain mathematical series. These methods have since been used in many areas, including group theory and number theory.
Exploring Finite Fields
Macintyre also worked with Zoé Chatzidakis and Lou van den Dries. They studied "definable sets" over finite fields. Their work built on ideas from other mathematicians like Serge Lang and André Weil. They also looked at the work of James Ax on the logic of finite fields.
Difference Fields and Frobenius Automorphisms
He started and proved results about the model theory of "difference fields." He also studied "Frobenius automorphisms." These are special mathematical operations. He extended the work of James Ax in these areas.
Real and Complex Exponentiation
Angus Macintyre has made many discoveries about the model theory of real and complex exponentiation. With Alex Wilkie, he helped solve a problem by Alfred Tarski. This problem was about whether real exponential fields could be "decided" (meaning, if there's a way to tell if a statement is true or false). They solved it based on a famous idea called Schanuel's conjecture.
He also worked with Lou van den Dries to study "logarithmic-exponential series." With David Marker and Lou van den Dries, he proved results about real fields with special analytic functions. This work has been used in many areas, including Diophantine geometry.
Adele Rings and Number Theory
With Jamshid Derakhshan, he developed a model theory for "adele rings." These rings are important in number theory. They proved results about how to simplify mathematical statements in these rings.
In 2023, Macintyre and Jamshid Derakhshan solved a problem posed by James Ax in 1968. This problem was about whether a certain class of mathematical structures could be "decided." Their solution used the model theory of adeles.
VC-dimension and Computer Science
Macintyre and Marek Karpinski have also worked on "VC-dimension." This is a concept that has found uses in theoretical computer science and even in how neural networks work.
Awards and Honors
Angus Macintyre has received many important awards for his contributions to mathematics.
- In 1993, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
- In 2003, he received the Pólya Prize from the London Mathematical Society.
- He was also the President of the London Mathematical Society from 2009 to 2011.
