A. S. Besicovitch | |
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Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch (1891-1970)
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Born | Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch 23 January 1891 Berdyansk, Russian Empire |
Died | 2 November 1970 Cambridge, UK |
(aged 79)
Residence | United Kingdom |
Nationality | Russian Empire and British |
Fields | Mathematician |
Institutions |
University of Liverpool University of Cambridge |
Alma mater | St Petersburg University |
Doctoral advisor | Andrey Markov |
Doctoral students | Oliver Aberth Roy Davies Joseph Gillis Patrick Moran Ernst Reifenberg Samuel Taylor Gholamhossein Mosaheb Grant Walker |
Known for |
Hausdorff-Besicovitch dimension Besicovitch functions Besicovitch covering theorem |
Influenced | Freeman Dyson |
Notable awards |
Adams Prize (1930) De Morgan Medal (1950) Sylvester Medal (1952) Fellow of the Royal Society |
Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch (or Besikovitch) (Russian: Абра́м Само́йлович Безико́вич; 23 January 1891 – 2 November 1970) was a Russian mathematician, who worked mainly in England. He was born in Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov (now in Ukraine) to a Karaite family.
Abram Besicovitch studied under the supervision of Andrey Markov at the St. Petersburg University, graduating with a PhD in 1912. He then began research in probability theory. He converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, joining the Russian Orthodox Church, on marrying in 1916. He was appointed professor at the University of Perm in 1917, and was caught up in the Russian Civil War over the next two years. In 1920 he took a position at the Petrograd University.
In 1924 he went to Copenhagen and Harald Bohr, on a Rockefeller Fellowship, where he worked on almost periodic functions, which now bear his name. After a visit to G.H. Hardy at the University of Oxford, he had appointments at the University of Liverpool in 1926, and the University of Cambridge in 1927.