Valentina Borok facts for kids

Valentina Mikhailovna Borok (born July 9, 1931 – died February 4, 2004) was an amazing mathematician from Ukraine. She was known for her important work on partial differential equations, which are special math problems.

Valentina Borok's Life Story

Valentina Borok was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 9, 1931. Her dad, Michail Borok, was a chemist and an expert in materials. Her mom, Bella Sigal, was a well-known economist.

Valentina had a comfortable childhood because of her mom's important job. But in 1937, her mom decided to leave her high position and take a lower one. This was likely to keep their family safe during a difficult political time. This choice might have helped them survive World War II.

Early Education and University

Valentina was very good at math even when she was in high school. So, in 1949, she started studying Mathematics at Kiev State University. There, she met Yakov Zhitomirskii, who later became her husband.

At the university, Valentina and Yakov began their math research. Their supervisor was Georgii Shilov. Valentina's first big paper, about special math problems called "linear partial differential equations," was so good that it was published in a top Russian journal. Later, in 1957, it was even translated into English for American mathematicians to read!

Becoming a Professor

In 1954, Valentina finished her studies at Kiev State University. She then moved to Moscow State University to get her advanced degree. In 1957, she earned her PhD. Her PhD paper was about "Systems of Linear Partial Differential Equations with Constant Coefficients."

From 1954 to 1959, she published more papers. These papers helped explain how to solve certain math problems. In 1960, she moved to Kharkiv State University. She stayed there for a long time, until 1994. In 1970, Valentina became a full professor. From 1983 to 1994, she was even the head of the analysis department!

Important Math Research

In the early 1960s, Valentina Borok worked on how to make sure solutions to partial differential equations were stable. Many of her projects during this time were done with her husband, Yakov Zhitomirskii.

Later, in the late 1960s, Valentina started a new series of studies. These studies created the basis for understanding "boundary value problems" in math. Her work helped explain how solutions to these problems behave.

Starting in the early 1970s, Valentina opened a special school at Kharkiv State University. This school focused on the general theory of Partial Differential Equations. Many of her papers helped develop this field of math. Even today, other mathematicians still use her work!

A Dedicated Teacher

During her time as a professor at Kharkiv State University, Valentina Borok was known as a strict but inspiring teacher. She taught a course called "rigorous analysis," where many students got their first chance to do real math research.

Valentina was famous for her "creative problems" and for writing her own notes for many math courses. She helped shape the math curriculum at Kharkiv State University for over 30 years!

In 1994, Valentina became very sick. She moved to Haifa, Israel, to get the medical care she needed. She passed away in 2004 at the age of 72. Both of her children, Michail Zhitomirskii and Svetlana Jitomirskaya, also became research mathematicians.

Valentina Borok's Works

Valentina Borok is famous for her research and contributions to the field of partial differential equations. During her life, she published 80 papers in top Russian and Ukrainian journals. She also guided 16 students through their PhDs and many more through their master's degrees.

Many of her studies focused on the "Cauchy problem" for linear partial differential equations. This work was published in the Annals of Mathematics. She also proved important theorems about how to find unique and correct solutions to these math problems.

One of her studies, translated from Russian, looked at a specific type of Cauchy problem. She showed that solutions exist and explained how they behave. She also found conditions that make sure the problem has a correct solution.

See also

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• In Spanish: Valentina Borok para niños