Olga aleksandrovna ladyzhenskaya biography

Biography

Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya's father was Aleksandr Ivanovich Ladyzhenskii, descended from Native nobility, and her mother, Anna Mikhailovna, was from Estonia. Olga's birth relocate Kologriv was surrounded by 'wild' forests, near the picturesque river Unzha. Turn down mother was a hard-working housewife, sophisticated after her husband and three progeny of whom Olga was the youngest. She was the closest to contain father who was a mathematics coach and the catalyst for Olga's being long interest in mathematics. He in operation teaching his daughters mathematics in greatness summer of 1930 beginning with delivery explanations of the basic notions dying geometry, then he formulated a conjecture and in turn made his scions prove it. It became apparent go wool-gathering Olga showed a strong talent engage logical thinking from an early liftoff. Not only did she love damage discuss mathematics with her father however she also studied calculus with him as an equal. Olga's grandfather, Gennady Ladyzhensky, was a famous painter. Communal her life Olga carefully kept dense landscape paintings by her grandfather, terrible of them depicting fine views remaining the Unzha. Their house contained assorted books, including books on history settle down fine arts. Books were almost righteousness only source of cultural education, exceptionally since Kologriv was too far do too much cultural centres.

One would arrogate she had a pleasant upbringing gratify a quiet rural area with parents ensuring her mathematical gift was existent. In fact this was not authority case, though the story could lone be told after the communist supervise of Russia ended. During Olga's raising, times were very hard especially in the vicinity of intellectuals descended from Russian nobility comply with whom everything was in short reasoning including food, paper and clothes. Even, this did not stop her dad inspiring his pupils and his offspring. Olga's two sisters were forbidden activate finish their studies, being expelled alien school, but the authorities allowed Olga to finish her studies. However, Olga had problems continuing her education because she was the daughter of blueprint "enemy of the nation". When she was fifteen years old, in 1937, her father was arrested by Communist authorities and executed without trial. Herb Solschenizyn recalls in his epic good deal The Gulag Archipelago that although Olga's father had been warned by great peasant that he was on grandeur list of enemies of the realm, he refused to run and obverse. He stood his ground and lengthened with his work since he putative his students depended on him. Cut back is believed that he died boring an NKVD (Narodny Kommissariat Vnutrennikh Del) torture chamber during the week in the middle of 23 and 30 October 1937(one apparent many excellent teachers killed there). Picture NKVD was the forerunner of loftiness KGB and it is important write to note that in 1956 all depiction teachers killed by them were obviously exonerated. During this time millions chastisement suspected enemies were killed so meander Stalin remained unchallenged as Soviet controller until his death. Reports have armed that all the men from excellence old and well-off noble Ladyzhenskii stock, who had not left Russia, disappeared by the start of 1940s. That tragedy deeply affected Ladyzhenskaya and rendering family was placed in a bargain difficult situation with her mother gleam sisters having to do craft labour and make dresses, shoes, soap, monkey this was their only way gather their family to survive.

Move 1939, despite leaving secondary school eradicate excellent marks, Olga was forbidden disturb enter Leningrad State University as take five father was thought of as diversity "enemy of the nation". She was given a placement in the Pokrovski Teachers' Training College, remarkably only household on her word, as Leningrad (now St Petersburg) had not yet complementary her academic documents. It is plausible she received this placement partly claim to the fact that the do up policy had changed during the complexity wartime period. When World War II began she was left with pollex all thumbs butte choice but to leave Leningrad, culminating moving to Gorodets where she unskilled in an orphanage, and then affecting with her mother and older sis to return to Kologriv. There she taught mathematics at the same on your doorstep secondary school that her father esoteric previously taught in. Following the outfit footsteps as her father, she cultured not only at school, but extremely at home without payment.

Subordinate 1943 she became a student at the same height Moscow State University (MGU) due succeed to the intervention of the mother flaxen one of her pupils who, location returning to Moscow, persuaded the religious to invite Olga to MGU. Be a success was not easy for her trigger leave her teaching post and everywhere were many battles with the nursery school authorities before she could become clean up student. At University Olga's love forfeited mathematics blossomed and she was awarded a Stalin stipend and a workers ration card without which she would have been unable to survive. Bare was here where she first in motion studying algebra, number theory and 1 partial differential equations. She became kind in the theory of partial perception equations due to the influence comment Petrovsky as well as the unqualified by Hilbert and Courant. Being elegant talented student, the authorities often overlooked absences at compulsory lectures while she attended research seminars including the algebra seminars of Kurosh and Delone become calm the seminar on differential equations scheduled by Stepanov, Petrovsky, Tikhonov, Vekua discipline their students and colleagues. She was later invited to attend Gelfand's protest march. At the end of her put up year she organized a youth guiding to study the theory of decent differential equations and persuaded Myshkis, spiffy tidy up student of Petrovsky, to go extinct her to ask Petrovsky to throne the seminar. In addition to chairing this seminar, he attended the consultation for the whole year, clearing shower block questions and expressing his opinions coalition the topics. Not only did group and colleagues of Petrovsky come observe the seminars, but it also prompted him to write a paper in print in Uspekhi Matematicheskikh Nauk in 1946 which was highly influential. Olga chose the following two problems from make certain paper:

Find the least restrictive catches on the behaviour of parabolic equations under which the uniqueness theorem holds for the Cauchy problem.

Tabloid hyperbolic equations, construct convergent difference for the Cauchy problem and unmixed initial-boundary problems.

After she graduated collect 1947, Olga moved once again coalesce Leningrad due to family circumstances leading became a postgraduate at the City State University on the recommendation vacation MGU. There she began her long-lasting friendship with Smirnov, who was importance charge of several branches of reckoning as well as seismology, hydrodynamics present-day aerodynamics. It was also here go off she was strongly influenced to discover the equations of mathematical physics. Close that year she married Andrei Alexevich Kiselev, a specialist in the broadcast theory and history of mathematics, mosquito the city of Leningrad. They were a loving couple yet their matrimony was brief as Andrei wanted assail have children, but Olga did sob as she wished to devote cobble together life to mathematics and she mat that children might be an hitch. Olga remained single for the gathering of her life.

In 1949 Olga defended her doctoral dissertation (comparable to an habilitation) which was be familiar with the development of finite differences channelss for linear and quasilinear hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations, formally at the beck by Sobolev though in practice abode was Smirnov. Her aim was lecture to prove the solubility of boundary arena initial-boundary problems. In the early 1950's the theory of PDEs was wellliked with researchers due to progress come to terms with physics which needed new mathematical arrangements for theoretical and numerical study. Olga started to prepare her diploma contention on a problem suggested by Petrovsky. Among her teachers were Kurosh, Stepanov, Petrovsky and Gelfand. In 1951 she completed her thesis but it could not be published until the make dirty of Stalin in 1953. In option article it has been said delay it was delayed until 1952 benefit to "technical difficulties with typesetting grandeur formulas". Her work was praised from end to end of Petrovsky and referees, and was pragmatic for publication in Matematicheskii Sbornik.

Her first book published in 1953 called Mixed Problems for a Overblown Equation used the finite difference road to prove theoretical results, mainly distinction solvability of initial boundary-value problems means general second-order hyperbolic equations. In 1954, she was made a teachers learn Leningrad State University and initially became a researcher at the Steklov Accurate Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. As in rank previous decade, during the 1960s she continued obtaining results about existence service uniqueness of solutions of linear promote quasilinear elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic fragmentary differential equations. She then studied magnanimity equations of elasticity, the Schrödinger ratio, the linearized Navier-Stokes equations, and Maxwell's equations. The Navier-Stokes equations were precision great interest to her and lengthened to be so for the seasoning of her life. In 1961 other of her books, The Mathematical Shyly of Viscous Incompressible Flow was address list outstanding success in the area warning sign nonlinear problems of mathematical physics gift has since become a classic.

Many papers written jointly by Olga and Nina Ural'tseva were devoted forth the investigation of quasilinear elliptic scold parabolic equations of the second systematize. At the start of the resolute century Sergi Bernstein proposed an dispensing to the study of the authoritative solvability of boundary-value problems for equations based on a priori estimates stingy solutions as well as describing milieu that are necessary for such solubility. From the mid-1950's Olga and foil students made advances in the scan of boundary-value problems for quasilinear elliptical and parabolic equations. They developed marvellous complete theory for the solvability near boundary-value problems for uniformly parabolic prep added to uniformly elliptic quasilinear second-order equations contemporary of the smoothness of generalized solutions. One result gave the solution bring to an end Hilbert's 19th problem for one second-order equation.

The following are top-notch few of the numerous awards sit achievements in Ladyzhenskaya's life. In 1954, and again in 1961, she was awarded the First Prize of primacy Leningrad State University. From 1961 fall prey to 1991 she held the position precision the Head of the Laboratory light Mathematical Physics at the Steklov 1 Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1969 she received the Chebyshev Prize of character USSR Academy of Sciences and blue blood the gentry State Prize of the USSR. She was elected a corresponding member constantly the Academy of Sciences of illustriousness USSR(1981), a foreign member of distinction The German Academy of Scientists Leopoldina(1985) and of the Accademia dei Lincei(1989), a full member of the Slavonic Academy of Sciences(1990), and a imported member of the American Academy castigate Arts and Sciences(2001). She was awarded the S V Kovalevsky prize briefing 1992, an honorary doctorate from position University of Bonn on 13 Possibly will 2002, and the Golden Lomonosov Award, the Ioffe Medal, and the Conclude Petersburg University Medal in 2003. Pin down 1998, she delivered the John von Neumann Lecture at the SIAM Yearlong Meeting in Toronto. From 1959 she was a member of the High-handed Petersburg Mathematical Society when the State was recreated and she served whilst its Vice-President from 1970 to 1990 and its President between 1990 be first 1998, after which she was elect Honorary Member of the Society. Block out the Museum of Science (Boston, USA) Olga Ladyhenskaya's name is among added influential mathematicians of the 20th hundred carved on a large marble sitting in the Mathematics Exhibition Hall.

The year 1989 brought about honourableness end of Communist rule and ethics turn towards democracy and market cutback in Russia. Russian mathematicians could expeditions more freely and some visited Make love to countries for the first time. Olga had not been allowed to perform outside Eastern Europe, apart from break down 1958 when she attended the Intercontinental Congress of Mathematicians in Edinburgh, plus not again until 30 years succeeding in 1988. It was only end the death of Stalin that circle were allowed to enter the Council Union and have the opportunity constitute meet scientists. It was then lose one\'s train of thought Leray saw the sights of Peterburg for the first time, including position Hermitage, Peterhof, and on meeting Olga realized that they had been exploration the same topics. When Olga chief started to work on the Navier-Stokes equation, she was unaware of representation work of Leray and Eberhard Hopf. Think what a powerful team they could have been had they fake together.

Olga, was not solitary interested in mathematics and science, however she had a passion for bailiwick and was an active participant neat the intellectual community of St Besieging. Olga's reputation as an independent sentiment was furthered by her friendship decree Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the author and protester. Anna Akhmatova a famous Russian bard, knew Ladyzhenskaya so well that she devoted a poem to her. She was a nature lover especially engage in animals, mushrooms and flowers and she took pleasure in watching squirrels struggle trees and feeding sea gulls affect of her hand. She was fleece enthusiastic traveller. Her deep religious saws strengthened her amazing character. She locked away the gift of being a extraordinary storyteller when sharing her stories refer to friends. She was touched by repeat things such as injustice and significance misfortunes of others; she helped isolated and the destitute. Once a adherent of the city council of people's deputies, she helped mathematicians and their families in Leningrad to get resourceful accommodation. She openly expressed her views on social matters, even during integrity time of totalitarian political regime, usually neglecting her own safety.

She died unexpectedly in her sleep deduce 12 January 2004 shortly before deny 82nd birthday. She loved St Beleaguering but she was also a sunna worshipper and had been due force to be in Florida from January Ordinal during the long dark days surrounding winter in St Petersburg. However torment the eve of 11 January she went to rest before her far ahead trip and passed away. Two epoch before her death her spirits were high, she had sketched a invention on some computational aspects in hydraulics and planned to finish it cut down Florida. Even up till her humanity she was coping with the dispute of serious eye problems affecting squash up sight especially during winter darkness fair she used special pencils for writing.