Heini Halberstam facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Heini Halberstam
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| Born | 11 September 1926 |
| Died | 25 January 2014 (aged 87) Champaign, Illinois, United States
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| Nationality |  British |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics Analytic number theory Combinatorial number theory |
Heini Halberstam (born September 11, 1926 – died January 25, 2014) was a British mathematician. He was born in Czechoslovakia. Heini Halberstam worked on a special part of mathematics called analytic number theory. This field uses tools from calculus to study whole numbers. He is also known for something called the Elliott–Halberstam conjecture from 1968, which is an idea about how prime numbers are spread out.
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Heini Halberstam's Early Life and Rescue
Heini Halberstam was born in a city called Most in Czechoslovakia. He later passed away in Champaign, Illinois, in the United States. His father died when Heini was very young.
When Adolf Hitler took over a part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland, Heini and his mother moved to Prague. As the Nazi army continued to occupy the country, Heini was in great danger.
Saved by the Kindertransport
When he was just twelve years old, Heini Halberstam was one of 669 children who were saved by a brave man named Sir Nicholas Winton. Sir Winton organized a special train called the Kindertransport. This train helped children leave areas controlled by the Nazis.
Heini was sent to England, where he lived safely during World War II. This rescue allowed him to survive the war and later become a famous mathematician.
Education and Teaching Career
Heini Halberstam studied hard and earned his PhD in 1952. He got his degree from University College, London. His teacher and guide for his PhD was Theodor Estermann.
After finishing his studies, Halberstam became a professor. From 1962 to 1964, he was a professor of mathematics at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.
Professor of Mathematics
He then moved to the University of Nottingham in England. He was a Professor of Mathematics there from 1964 until 1980.
In 1980, he took a new job at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the United States. He taught there until 1996, when he became an Emeritus Professor. This means he retired but kept his connection to the university. In 2012, he was recognized as a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
Important Books and Research
Heini Halberstam was also known for writing important books about mathematics. One of his books, called Sequences, was written with Klaus Roth. This book is about additive number theory, which studies how numbers can be added together.
He also wrote a book with H. E. Richert about something called sieve theory. Sieve theory is a way to count or estimate the number of prime numbers that fit certain rules. His work helped other mathematicians understand these complex ideas better.
