Lars Ahlfors

Lars Valerian Ahlfors (April 18, 1907 - October 11, 1996) was a Finnish mathematician, remembered for his work in the field of Riemann surfaces and his text on complex analysis.

Related Topics:
April 18 - 1907 - October 11 - 1996 - Finnish - Mathematician - Riemann surface - Complex analysis

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He was born in Helsinki, the son of a Professor of Engineering. He studied at Helsinki University from 1924, graduating in 1928 having studied under Ernst Lindelöf and Rolf Nevanlinna.

Related Topics:
Helsinki - Helsinki University - 1924 - 1928 - Ernst Lindelöf - Rolf Nevanlinna

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He assisted Nevanlinna in 1929 with his work on Denjoy's conjecture on the number of asymptotic values of an entire function. Ahlfors was appointed lecturer in mathematics at the Åbo Akademi (in Turku). He completed his doctorate in 1930.

Related Topics:
1929 - Denjoy's conjecture - Entire function - Åbo Akademi - Turku - 1930

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In 1935 he went to Harvard University and in 1936 he was one of the first two people to be awarded the Fields Medal. He returned to Finland in 1938 to take up a post at the University of Helsinki, but the outbreak of war led to problems although Ahlfors was unfit for military service. He was offered a post at the Federal Polytechnic Institute at Zurich in 1944 and finally managed to travel there in March 1945. He did not enjoy his time in Switzerland and jumped at a chance to leave, returning to work at Harvard where he remained until he retired in 1977; he was William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics from 1964. He was awarded the Vihuri Prize in 1968 and the Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 1981.

Related Topics:
1935 - Harvard University - 1936 - Fields Medal - 1938 - Federal Polytechnic Institute at Zurich - 1944 - March 1945 - Switzerland - 1977 - 1964 - 1968 - Wolf Prize in Mathematics - 1981

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His book Complex Analysis (1953) is still the standard text for most courses on the topic. Ahlfors wrote several other significant books, including Riemann surfaces (1960) and Conformal invariants (1973).

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During his career, he had made decisive contributions to meromorphic curves, value distribution theory, Riemann surfaces, conformal geometry, quasiconformal mappings, and other areas.

Related Topics:
Meromorphic - Value distribution theory - Riemann surface - Conformal geometry - Quasiconformal mapping

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He was married and had three daughters.

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