Gerd Faltings facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gerd Faltings
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Faltings in 2005
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| Born | 28 July 1954 |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Münster |
| Known for |
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| Awards | Dannie Heineman Prize (1983) Fields Medal (1986) ICM Speaker (1986, 1994) Guggenheim Fellowship (1988) Leibniz Prize (1996) Von Staudt Prize (2008) Heinz Gumin Prize (2010) King Faisal International Prize (2014) Shaw Prize (2015) ForMemRS (2016) Cantor Medal (2017) Pour le Mérite (2024) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Max Planck Institute for Mathematics University of Bonn Princeton University University of Wuppertal |
| Doctoral advisor | Hans-Joachim Nastold |
| Doctoral students |
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Gerd Faltings (born 28 July 1954) is a German mathematician. He is famous for his important work in a field called arithmetic geometry. This area of mathematics combines ideas from number theory and algebraic geometry.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gerd Faltings was born in Gelsenkirchen-Buer, West Germany. From 1972 to 1978, he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Münster. He took a break for 15 months to complete his military service. After this, he earned his PhD in mathematics in 1978.
Career Highlights
Becoming a Professor
In 1981, Faltings became a professor at the University of Münster. He then taught at the University of Wuppertal from 1982 to 1984. From 1985 to 1994, he was a professor at Princeton University in the United States. He also spent time as a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Winning the Fields Medal
In 1986, Gerd Faltings received the Fields Medal. This is one of the highest awards a mathematician can get. He won it for solving some very difficult problems. One of his biggest achievements was proving the Mordell conjecture. This conjecture was a long-standing problem in mathematics. It is about how many special points can exist on certain curves. His work showed that these curves have only a limited number of such points.
After winning the Fields Medal, he gave a major speech at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). This showed how important his discoveries were to the world of mathematics.
Further Research and Leadership
Faltings continued his important work. In 1994, he gave another talk at the ICM in Zurich. He expanded on his earlier work, proving the Mordell–Lang conjecture. This was another big step forward in understanding mathematical curves and points. He also worked with another mathematician, Gisbert Wüstholz, to re-prove Roth's theorem. This theorem is also about how numbers can be approximated.
In 1994, Faltings moved back to Germany. He became a director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn. He held this important position until 2018. In 1996, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. This is Germany's highest award for research.
Gerd Faltings has also guided many students who went on to become mathematicians. Some of his students include Shinichi Mochizuki and Nikolai Durov.
Awards and Honours
- Fields Medal (1986)
- Guggenheim Fellowship (1988/89)
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1996)
- von Staudt Prize (2008)
- Heinz Gumin Prize (2010)
- King Faisal International Prize (2014)
- Shaw Prize (2015)
- Foreign Member of the Royal Society (2016)
- Cantor Medal (2017)
- National Academy of Sciences International Member (2018)
- Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts (2024)
