Susanne Dierolf facts for kids

Susanne Dierolf (July 16, 1942 – April 24, 2009) was a brilliant German mathematician. She spent many years teaching at the University of Trier. Her main area of study was something called 'topological vector spaces,' which are special kinds of mathematical spaces.

Early Life and Education

Susanne Dierolf was born on July 16, 1942, in a city called Bratislava.

She loved math and continued her studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. In 1974, she earned her doctorate degree. This is a very high university degree, showing she was an expert in her field. Her special project for this degree was about properties in topological vector spaces.

She kept working at the university and, in 1985, she completed her "habilitation." This is another important step in Germany that allows a scientist to become a full professor. Later that year, she became a special lecturer at the University of Trier. In 1991, she became a professor there.

Susanne Dierolf passed away on April 24, 2009.

Her Amazing Math Work

Susanne Dierolf was a very busy and smart mathematician! She wrote 71 different math papers. She also guided ten students who were working on their own doctorate degrees.

One of her biggest achievements was solving four tough math problems. These problems were first thought up by a famous mathematician named Alexander Grothendieck. She also solved a puzzle from another mathematician, Dmitriĭ A. Raĭkov.

What is a Counterexample?

Susanne Dierolf became very well known for using something called "counterexamples" in her work. Because of this, some people even called her "Mrs. Counterexample"!

A counterexample is like finding one example that proves a general idea or rule is not always true. Imagine someone says, "All birds can fly." A counterexample would be a penguin or an ostrich, which are birds but cannot fly. In math, counterexamples help mathematicians understand the limits of rules and theories.

Besides her main work on topological vector spaces, she also helped write a book. This book was about another part of math called "topological group theory." It was published in 1981.

Recognized for Her Work

Susanne Dierolf's contributions to mathematics were highly valued. After she passed away, a special edition of a math journal was published in 2011. This journal, called Functiones et Approximatio Commentarii Mathematici, was dedicated to her memory and her important work.