Ruth Lawrence facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ruth Lawrence
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Ruth Lawrence, Berkeley 1991
|
|
| Born | 2 August 1971 Brighton, England
|
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (MA, DPhil) |
| Known for | Being a child prodigy Lawrence–Krammer representation |
| Awards | Fellow of the American Mathematical Society |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Topology, knot theory |
| Institutions | Hebrew University of Jerusalem University of Michigan |
| Thesis | Homology representations of braid groups (1989) |
| Doctoral advisor | Michael Atiyah |
Ruth Elke Lawrence-Neimark (Hebrew: רות אלקה לורנס-נאימרק, born on August 2, 1971) is a very smart British-Israeli mathematician. She is a professor of mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She studies knot theory and algebraic topology, which are special areas of math. Many people know her because she was a child prodigy in mathematics, meaning she was incredibly talented at a very young age.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Ruth Lawrence was born in Brighton, England. Her parents, Harry Lawrence and Sylvia Greybourne, both worked with computers. When Ruth was five years old, her father stopped his job to teach her at home. Ruth is Jewish.
Amazing Education Journey
When Ruth was just nine years old, she passed a big math exam called an O-level. This set a new record for how young someone could be to pass it! Later, in 2001, another child beat her record. At the same age, nine, she also got a top grade in another tough math exam called an A-level in pure mathematics.
In 1981, Ruth passed the entrance exam for Oxford University in mathematics. She started studying at St Hugh's College in 1983, when she was only 12 years old.
While at Oxford, her father continued to help her with her studies. He went with her to all her classes and some of her study sessions. Ruth finished her first university degree, a bachelor's degree, in just two years. Most students take three years. She graduated in 1985 at the age of 13 with the highest possible grade and special praise. This made her the youngest British person to get a first-class degree and the youngest to graduate from Oxford University in modern times.
After her first degree, Ruth earned another bachelor's degree in physics in 1986. Then, in June 1989, when she was 17, she earned her highest degree, a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in mathematics from Oxford. Her special project for this degree was about "Homology representations of braid groups." Her teacher for this project was Sir Michael Atiyah.
Working as a Professor
After finishing her studies, Ruth and her father moved to America. Ruth got her first job at Harvard University in 1990, when she was 19. In 1993, she moved to the University of Michigan, where she became a professor in 1997.
In 1998, Ruth married Ariyeh Neimark, who is also a mathematician. She then started using the name Ruth Lawrence-Neimark. The next year, she moved to Israel with him. She began working as a mathematics professor at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Her Math Discoveries
In 1990, Ruth wrote an important paper about something called "Homological representations of the Hecke algebra." In this paper, she introduced new ways to understand "braid groups." These new ideas are now known as Lawrence–Krammer representations. Later, other mathematicians proved that Ruth's ideas were very important and correct. This helped show that "braid groups are linear," which is a big deal in math.
Awards and Special Recognitions
In 2012, Ruth Lawrence became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This is a special honor given to mathematicians who have made important contributions to the field.
See also
In Spanish: Ruth Lawrence para niños
