March 17, 2006

• George W. Mackey,
  Harvard mathematician,
  is dead at 90.

  Mackey was born, according to Wikipedia, on Feb. 1, 1916.  He died, according to Harvard University,
  on the night of March 14-15, 2006.  He was the author of, notably,
  “Harmonic Analysis as the Exploitation of Symmetry — A Historical
  Survey,” pp. 543-698 in Bulletin of the American
  Mathematical Society (New Series), Vol. 3, No. 1, July 1980.  This is available in a hardcover book published in 1992 by the A.M.S., The Scope and History of Commutative and Noncommutative Harmonic Analysis. (370 pages, ISBN 0-8218-9903-1).  A paperback edition of this book will apparently be published this month by Oxford University Press (ISBN 978-0-8218-3790-7). 

  From Oxford U.P.–
  
  Contents

  • Introduction
  • Harmonic analysis as the exploitation of symmetry: A historical survey
  • Herman Weyl and the application of group theory to quantum mechanics
  • The significance of invariant measures for harmonic analysis
  • Weyl’s program and modern physics
  • Induced representations and the applications of harmonic analysis
  • Von Neumann and the early days of ergodic theory
  • Final
    remarks

  Related material:
  Log24, Oct. 22, 2002.
  Women’s history month continues.

  • 2:28 am
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