Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Soviet mathematician: biography, scientific career

The fate of this mathematician was uneasy and very interesting. At the age of 13, the future scientist lost his sight. This did not prevent him from making a number of important discoveries in mathematics. Lev Semenovich Pontryagin was awarded the State Prize of the USSR, as well as many other awards. His merits are recognized all over the world.

The Origin of Pontryagin

Lev Semenovich Pontryagin (1908-1988) was born on August 21, 1908 in Moscow, in the family of an employee, by profession accountant. In 1916, the future scientist began to receive secondary education. Lev Semyonovich Pontryagin later began to comprehend the basics of science because his family was not rich. She did not have the opportunity to pay for Lev's training in the gymnasium (his father was mobilized by an ordinary soldier into the army).

Schooling, loss of sight

Lev Semenovich Pontryagin in 1917 moved to a nine-year secondary school, at that time common to all. In those years, the choice of his profession did not interest him. The future scientist did not show a special inclination towards mathematics. When the boy was 13 years old, in his house there was an explosion of the Primus stove. As a result of the accident, Lev Semenovich Pontryagin completely lost his sight. His childhood, presumably, was difficult after this event. His mother, Tatyana Andreevna (she worked as a dressmaker), became in fact the secretary of her son for many years. Lev Semenovich Pontryagin became interested in mathematics in the ninth grade. As a source of information, he used articles from encyclopedic dictionaries. It was then that the future scientist decided to get a higher education in mathematics. Despite the difficulties associated with loss of vision, he managed to carry out the plan.

University studies

Pontryagin entered the Moscow State University, in physics and mathematics (specialty - "pure mathematics"). He graduated in 1929. Then Lev Semenovich continued his education in graduate school, enrolling in the Research Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, functioning at Moscow State University. He graduated as postgraduate in 1931. The teacher of Lev Semenovich became PS Aleksandrov. Pontryagin for many years was under his huge personal charm.

Scientific career

Lev Semenovich in the period from 1930 to 1932 was an assistant professor of algebra, as well as an employee of the Research Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics. In the years 1932-1933. He was an employee of the Laboratory of Variations located at the Moscow State University (belongs to the Institute of Physics). A mathematics scientist from 1934 to the end of his life taught at Moscow State University. In 1934 he was acting professor, and in 1935-1938 - professor of the Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty. In the 1970-1988 gg. Pontryagin was in charge of one of the departments of the faculty of computational mathematics and cybernetics. In 1935, without defense of the thesis, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. In the same year Pontryagin received the title of professor.

From 1934 until the end of his days Lev Semenovich worked at the Steklov Mathematical Institute. In the period from 1934 to 1939, he was here senior researcher. For twenty years (1939-1959) Pontryagin served as head of the Department of Topology and Geometry. Since 1972, the mathematician worked in VINITI, where until 1988 he was listed as a senior researcher. Lev Semenovich was a member of the editorial board of the journal "Mathematics" from 1974 to 1980.

Pontryagin's achievements

The main areas of Pontryagin's scientific interests are topological algebra and topology, control theory and the theory of differential equations. In 1932 Lev Semenovich, developing the duality law proposed by Alexander, proved this law, which in Euclidean space connects the Betti groups of a closed bounded arbitrary set with Betti groups of a closed complementary set. Pontryagin solved the problem of calculating Betti groups.

Lev Semenovich is the creator of topological algebra. Its main achievements are related to locally compact and commutative compact groups. The scientist studied their structure, and also carried out a harmonic analysis. Simultaneously with research on topological duality and the theory of characters, Pontryagin carried out two cycles of work on homotopy theory and dimension theory. The scientist has proved (independently of Nebeling, the German mathematician, and simultaneously with him) the well-known theorem that any n-dimensional compactum with respect to a set that lies in a Euclidean (2n + 1) -dimensional set is homeomorphic.

From 1935 to 1940, the scientist wrote a number of works on the theory of skew products and homotopy theory. Pontryagin discovered a connection between problems devoted to smooth manifolds and homotopy problems. He discovered the characteristic classes of LS Pontryagin, which are invariants of smooth manifolds.

Work on the theory of differential equations and games

Lev Semenovich from the early 1950s became interested in the theory of differential equations. He performed two cycles of work in this field. The first of them is about singular perturbations, and the second one is related to the theory of optimal processes in mathematics. It is Lev Semenovich who is considered to be the creator of this theory. It is based on the Pontryagin maximum principle. His discovery was the most significant result of studying the optimal processes. The scientist who interests us has obtained fundamental results in such a sphere as the theory of differential games. They made a great contribution to the theory of optimal control.

Recognition of merit

In total, the scientist wrote about three hundred scientific works. With the help of the theory that Lev Semenovich created, scientists find the most advantageous electric drive schemes, determine the most effective fuel consumption programs, and so on.

The merits of Lev Semenovich are not subject to doubt. They were recognized not only by the Russian, but also by the world scientific community. The scientist was invited to participate in prestigious conferences, he was awarded various prizes, including the State Prize of the USSR, and many high awards. For some time Pontryagin was one of the leaders of the International Mathematical Union, more precisely, his vice-president.

Social activity

It should be noted that Lev Semenovich always longed to participate in public life. He was a mathematician, also blind, so he could easily evade social activities. Especially when it became unsafe. However, Lev Semenovich did not notice the threatening danger. He often argued and expressed out loud what he considered correct. At the same time he did not look at the ranks and ranks. Lev Semenovich always demanded full openness and clarity in the relations between colleagues. In his work, he followed the dictates of conscience, often disregarding the false notions of subordination and hierarchy in the academic world, as well as corporate interests. The scientist considered it his duty to interfere in socially significant events in the state, beginning with the reform of school education and ending with the project of turning rivers in Siberia.

Conflict, which was involved Pontryagin

In connection with the foregoing, it is not surprising that the mathematician Lev Semenovich Pontryagin made a lot of enemies, who, using the opportunity, began to attack the academician fiercely. The strengthening of the Zionist movement, which occurred in 1967, after the Arab-Israeli war, was the direct cause of the attacks. The USSR held an active provocative position. Pontryagin became the main enemy for the Zionists, who had significant influence in the United States, as well as in other Western states.

Among the areas of struggle against the Soviet Union was the struggle against the science of the USSR, since in it, as is known, the share of Jews was always slightly higher than the proportion of representatives of other nationalities. The situation worsened because the government of the USSR prevented the emigration of scientists who had secret information. In the middle of the conflict between the Soviet Union and the Zionists, in 1970, Pontryagin appeared unexpectedly.

Oblivion and Rehabilitation

When the time came, Lev Semenovich became the most suitable figure for the leading anti-Semite among the mathematicians of our country. In public opinion, a stereotype of Pontryagin's anti-Semitic sentiments has developed over time. This was the reason for the resignation of the scientist from the post of president of the Mathematical Union. The Lenin Prize laureate ceased to receive invitations to participate in conferences, and his name was tried to be avoided whenever possible, even with a story about his main achievements. After 1991, the stereotype associated with the academician's anti-Semitism became very common in Russia. Only in recent years, thanks to the efforts of a number of scientists, the figure of Lev Semenovich was rehabilitated.

Book of memories

Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences LS Pontryagin wrote a very interesting book of memoirs, from which you can learn the details of the history of mathematics in the USSR in the second half of the 20th century. This book presents the figures of many talented scientists - Kolmogorov, Alexandrov, Luzin and others. There are a lot of intimate revelations in it, as well as descriptions of Lev Semyonovich's rather difficult personal life. In addition, the scientist tells about certain features of his own scientific thinking. The scientist writes about how he solved "complex" problems in his mind, without using any means of visualization. But the most important thing, perhaps, is that the scientist's memories give us an example of immense zest and perseverance, inexhaustible resources of the human brain, which we use only in an insignificant degree.

The scientific school of Lev Semenovich

Fate put a severe test on the life of Pontryagin - he lost his sight. However, this did not prevent the scientist from obtaining a higher education, and then his whole life successfully deal with mathematics. In this science he achieved great success. Through all his work Lev Semenovich contributed to the development of mathematics in our country and throughout the world. He is the founder of the scientific school, which significantly influenced the development of the theory of control and the calculus of variations. In mathematical terminology, there are many terms bearing the name of this scientist-the Pontryagin law, the Pontryagin surface, the Pontryagin space, and others.

Lev Semenovich was an outstanding teacher. The students noted that his lectures were distinguished by accuracy of presentation and clarity. These qualities the scientist instilled in his numerous students.

In Moscow on May 3, 1988 Pontryagin Lev Semenovich died. Biography of him and to this day inspires many scientists, as well as people far from science.