Simon Brendle Explained

Simon Brendle
Nationality:German, American
Fields:Mathematics
Workplaces:Columbia University
Stanford University
Alma Mater:University of Tübingen
Thesis Title:Krümmungsflüsse auf Mannigfaltigkeiten mit Rand
Thesis Url:https://rds-tue.ibs-bw.de/link?kid=1162076321
Thesis Year:2001
Doctoral Advisor:Gerhard Huisken
Known For:Yamabe flow, differentiable sphere theorem, Lawson conjecture, singularity formation in mean curvature flow and Ricci flow
Awards:EMS Prize (2012)
Bôcher Prize (2014)
Simons Investigator Award (2017)
Fermat Prize (2017)[1]
Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics (2024)

Simon Brendle (born June 1981) is a German-American mathematician working in differential geometry and nonlinear partial differential equations. At the age of 19 [2], He received his Dr. rer. nat. from Tübingen University under the supervision of Gerhard Huisken (2001). He was a professor at Stanford University (2005–2016), and is currently a professor at Columbia University. He has held visiting positions at MIT, ETH Zürich, Princeton University, and Cambridge University.

Contributions to mathematics

Simon Brendle has solved major open problems regarding the Yamabe equation in conformal geometry. This includes his counterexamples to the compactness conjecture for the Yamabe problem, and the proof of the convergence of the Yamabe flow in all dimensions (conjectured by Richard Hamilton). In 2007, he proved the differentiable sphere theorem (in collaboration with Richard Schoen), a fundamental problem in global differential geometry. In 2012, he proved the Hsiang–Lawson's conjecture, a longstanding problem in minimal surface theory. He has also worked on singularity formation in the mean curvature flow and Ricci flow, solving a question concerning the uniqueness of self-similar solutions to the Ricci flow which arose in the context of Grigori Perelman's work.

Honors and awards

He received an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2006. For his contributions to differential geometry he was awarded an EMS Prize in 2012. He delivered the 2012 Euler Lecture and the 2011 Takagi Lectures. He was named as the recipient of the 2014 Bôcher Prize[3] of the American Mathematical Society. In 2017, he received a Simons Investigator Award[4] and the Fermat Prize. In 2023, he received the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics.

Main publications

S3

and the Lawson conjecture", Acta Mathematica 211, 2013, pp. 177–190, Preprint (Lawson Conjecture)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Prix Fermat 2017 | Société Mathématique de France.
  2. Web site: Guest Professorship enables top-level collaboration in Mathematics University of Tübingen . 2024-07-28 . uni-tuebingen.de.
  3. .
  4. Web site: Simons Investigator Awardees. Simons Foundation. 28 July 2017.