James Glimm

James Gilbert Glimm (born 24 March 1934) is an American mathematician, former president of the American Mathematical Society, and distinguished professor at Stony Brook University. He has made many contributions in the areas of pure and applied mathematics.

James G. Glimm
Born (1934-03-24) March 24, 1934
Peoria, Illinois
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materColumbia University
Known forConstructive quantum field theory
AwardsHeineman Prize (1980)
Leroy P. Steele Prize (1993)
National Medal of Science (2002)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsInstitute of Advanced Study
MIT
The Rockefeller University
New York University
Stony Brook University
Doctoral advisorRichard Kadison
Doctoral students

Life and career

James Glimm was born in Peoria, Illinois, United States on 24 March 1934.[1] He received his BA in engineering from Columbia University in 1956. He continued on to graduate school at Columbia where he received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1959; his advisor was Richard V. Kadison.[2] Glimm had significant stints at New York University, and at Rockefeller University, before arriving at Stony Brook University in 1989.[1]

He has been noted for contributions to C*-algebras, quantum field theory, partial differential equations, fluid dynamics, scientific computing, and the modeling of petroleum reservoirs. Together with Arthur Jaffe, he has founded a subject called constructive quantum field theory. His early work in the theory of operator algebras was seminal, and today the "Glimm algebras" that bear his name continue to play an important role in this area of research.[3] More recently, the United States Department of Energy adopted Glimm's front-track methodology for shock-wave calculations, e.g., simulating weapons performance.[4]

Glimm was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1984. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1970 at Nice[5] and a Plenary Speaker of the ICM in 1974 at Vancouver.[6] In 1993, Glimm was awarded the Leroy P. Steele Prize for his contribution to solving hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations.[7] He won the National Medal of Science in 2002 "For his original approaches and creative contribution to an array of disciplines in mathematical analysis and mathematical physics".[8] Starting January 1, 2007, he served a 2-year term as president of the American Mathematical Society. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[9]

Appointments
YearsAppointments
1999-Staff Member, Computational Science Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory
1989-Distinguished Professor, SUNY at Stony Brook
1982-89Professor, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University
1974-82Professor, The Rockefeller University
1968-74Professor, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University
1960-68Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, MIT
1959-60Temporary Member, Institute for Advanced Study

Selected publications
  • Glimm, James (1965), "Solutions in the large for nonlinear hyperbolic systems of equations", Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics, 18 (4): 697–715, doi:10.1002/cpa.3160180408
  • Glimm, James (May 1960), "On a certain class of operator algebras.", Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 95 (2): 318–340, doi:10.2307/1993294, JSTOR 1993294
  • Glimm, James (September 1960), "A Stone-Weierstrass theorem for C*-algebras.", Annals of Mathematics, Second Series, 72 (2): 216–244, doi:10.2307/1970133, JSTOR 1970133
  • Glimm, James (May 1961), "Type I C*-algebras.", Annals of Mathematics, Second Series, 73 (3): 572–612, doi:10.2307/1970319, JSTOR 1970319
  • Glimm, James; et al. (1998), "Three-Dimensional Front Tracking", SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 19 (3): 703–727, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.57.569, doi:10.1137/S1064827595293600
  • Glimm, James; et al. (March 1981), "Front tracking for hyperbolic systems", Advances in Applied Mathematics, 2 (1): 91–119, doi:10.1016/0196-8858(81)90040-3
  • Glimm, James; Jaffe, Arthur (March 1970), "The λ (φ4) 2 quantum field theory without cutoffs: II. the field operators and the approximate vacuum", Annals of Mathematics, Second Series, 91 (2): 362–401, doi:10.2307/1970582, JSTOR 1970582
  • Glimm, James; Jaffe, Arthur (1973), "Positivity of the φ 34 Hamiltonian.", Fortschritte der Physik, 21 (7): 327–376, Bibcode:1973ForPh..21..327G, doi:10.1002/prop.19730210702
  • (Book) Glimm, James; Jaffe, Arthur (1981), Quantum physics : a functional integral point of view, New york, NY: Springer, ISBN 9781468401219
  • (Book) Glimm, James; Lax, Peter (1970), Decay of solutions of systems of nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws, Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society, 101, ISBN 0-8218-1801-5

References
  1. http://www.ams.org/about-us/presidents/59-glimm
  3. AMS Presidents: A Timeline
  4. Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Stony Brook
  5. Glimm, James. "Quantum field theory models." Actes, Congrès int. Math., Nice, 1970. Tome 3: 3–8.
  6. Glimm, James. "Analysis over infinite-dimensional spaces and applications to quantum field theory." Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Vancouver, 1974. vol. 1: 119–126.
  7. Timeline AMS Steel Prizes,
  9. List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2013-01-19.
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