John Conway

John Horton Conway (born December 26, 1937, Liverpool, England) is a prolific mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory.

Related Topics:
December 26 - 1937 - Liverpool - England - Mathematician - Groups - Knot theory - Number theory - Combinatorial game theory - Coding theory

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Among amateur mathematicians, he is perhaps most widely known for his combinatorial game theory and for the invention of the game of life. He is also one of the inventors of sprouts, as well as philosopher's football, and he developed detailed analyses of many other games and puzzles, such as the Soma cube. He came up with the still unsolved Angel problem.

Related Topics:
Combinatorial game theory - Game of life - Sprouts - Philosopher's football - Soma cube - Angel problem

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He invented a new system of numbers, the surreal numbers, which are closely related to certain games and have been the subject of a mathematical novel by Donald Knuth. He also invented a nomenclature for exceedingly large numbers, the Conway chained arrow notation.

Related Topics:
Surreal numbers - Donald Knuth - Large number - Conway chained arrow notation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With Michael Guy, he established that there are 64 convex nonprismatic uniform polychora in the mid-1960s.

Related Topics:
Michael Guy - Convex - Nonprismatic - Uniform - Polychora

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He worked on the classification of finite simple groups and discovered the Conway groups.

Related Topics:
Classification of finite simple groups - Conway group

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For calculating the day of the week, he invented the Doomsday algorithm.

Related Topics:
Calculating the day of the week - Doomsday algorithm

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2004, Conway and Simon Kochen, another Princeton mathematician, proved the Free Will Theorem, a startling version of the No Hidden Variables principle of Quantum Mechanics. It states that given certain conditions (that almost every physicist agrees are true), if an experimenter can freely decide what quantities to measure in a particular experiment, then elementary particles must be free to choose their spins in order to make the measurements consistent with physical law. Or, in Conway's provocative wording, if experimenters have free will, then so do elementary particles.

Related Topics:
Simon Kochen - No Hidden Variables - Quantum Mechanics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Conway is currently professor of mathematics at Princeton University. He studied at Cambridge University. In 1981 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Related Topics:
Princeton University - Cambridge University - 1981 - Royal Society

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He has (co-)written several books including the Atlas of Finite Groups, Sphere Packings, Lattices and Groups, The Sensual (Quadratic) Form, On Numbers and Games, Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays The Book of Numbers, and On Quaternions and Octonions.

Related Topics:
On Numbers and Games - Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~