Ben Green (mathematician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ben Green
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Green in 2010
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| Born |
Ben Joseph Green
27 February 1977 Bristol, England
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| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge (BA, MMath, PhD) |
| Awards | Clay Research Award (2004) Salem Prize (2005) Whitehead Prize (2005) SASTRA Ramanujan Prize (2007) EMS Prize (2008) Fellow of the Royal Society (2010) Sylvester Medal (2014) Senior Whitehead Prize (2019) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Bristol University of Cambridge University of Oxford Princeton University University of British Columbia Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | Topics in Arithmetic Combinatorics (2003) |
| Doctoral advisor | Timothy Gowers |
| Doctoral students |
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Ben Green, born on February 27, 1977, is a famous British mathematician. He studies special areas of math called combinatorics and number theory. He is currently a top professor of pure mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is known for his amazing work in understanding numbers and patterns.
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Early Life and Education
Ben Green was born in Bristol, England, in 1977. As a student, he went to local schools in Bristol. He was very good at math from a young age. He even competed in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1994 and 1995. This is a big competition for young math talents around the world.
In 1995, Ben started studying at Trinity College, Cambridge. He earned his first degree in mathematics in 1998. He was so good that he won the "Senior Wrangler" title. This means he was the top math student in his year at Cambridge. He then continued his studies and earned his PhD in 2003. His main teacher was Timothy Gowers, another famous mathematician.
After his studies, Ben Green worked at several important universities. These include the University of Bristol, the University of Cambridge, and Princeton University. Since 2013, he has been a professor at the University of Oxford.
Amazing Math Discoveries
Most of Ben Green's research is in analytic number theory and additive combinatorics. These are branches of math that look at numbers and how they combine. He also works on harmonic analysis and group theory.
The Green–Tao Theorem
One of Ben Green's most famous discoveries is the Green–Tao theorem. He proved this with his friend and fellow mathematician, Terence Tao. This theorem is about prime numbers. Prime numbers are numbers that can only be divided by 1 and themselves (like 2, 3, 5, 7, 11).
The Green–Tao theorem says that you can find very long lists of prime numbers that are evenly spaced. For example, 3, 5, 7 are primes, and they are spaced by 2. The theorem proves that you can find such lists of any length, no matter how long you want them to be! This was a huge breakthrough in mathematics.
Other Important Work
Ben Green has made many other important contributions to math.
- He improved a result about how arithmetic patterns appear in sets of numbers.
- He also proved the Cameron–Erdős conjecture. This is about sets of numbers where no two numbers add up to another number in the same set.
- He worked with Terence Tao and Tamar Ziegler to create a new way to study numbers. This is called "higher order Fourier analysis." It helps mathematicians count solutions to equations in certain groups of numbers.
- He also worked with Emmanuel Breuillard on group theory. This area of math studies groups of objects and how they relate to each other.
- With Terence Tao, he helped solve a problem in geometry. They proved that if you have many points in a flat space, and they are not all in a straight line, then there must be many lines that connect exactly two of those points.
- He also worked with other mathematicians to find a better way to understand the gaps between prime numbers.
Ben Green continues to explore new ideas in math. He has looked at how colors can be used in math problems. He also uses new methods to solve problems about sets of numbers.
Awards and Honors
Ben Green has received many important awards for his work. These awards show how much his discoveries have helped the world of mathematics.
- In 2004, he received the Clay Research Award.
- In 2005, he won the Salem Prize and the Whitehead Prize.
- In 2007, he was given the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. This award is named after a very famous Indian mathematician.
- In 2008, he received a prize from the European Mathematical Society.
- In 2010, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
- In 2014, he was awarded the Sylvester Medal by the Royal Society.
- In 2019, he received the Senior Whitehead Prize.
