Václav Hlavatý
Václav Hlavatý (27 January 1894 – 11 January 1969) was a noted Czech-American mathematician, who wrote on the theory of relativity and corresponded extensively with Albert Einstein on the subject.[1] In particular, Hlavatý solved some very difficult equations relating to Einstein's Unified field theory, which was featured in the news media as one of the great scientific achievements of 1953.[2] Einstein himself was reported to have said that if anyone could solve the equations it would be Professor Hlavatý, which proved to be the case.[3]
He was born in Louny, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) and died in Bloomington, Indiana. He obtained his PhD in 1921 at the Charles University in Prague[4][5] and during World War II participated in the Prague uprising,[3] but his academic career was mainly at Indiana University, which he joined in 1948, and where he became Professor, later Emeritus, of Mathematics. A special book of mathematical essays was published in his honour.[6]
He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1928 in Bologna and in 1936 in Oslo.
In 1931 he married Olga Neumannova, and they had a daughter, Olga.[4]
Some publications
- Hlavatý, V (1952). "The Elementary Basic Principles of the Unified Theory of Relativity". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 38 (3): 243–247. doi:10.1073/pnas.38.3.243. PMC 1063539
. - Hlavatý, V (1952). "The Einstein Connection of the Unified Theory of Relativity". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 38 (5): 415–419. doi:10.1073/pnas.38.5.415. PMC 1063575. PMID 16589114.
- Hlavatý, V (1952). "The Schrödinger Final Affine Field Laws". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 38 (12): 1052–1058. doi:10.1073/pnas.38.12.1052. PMC 1063709.
- Hlavatý, V (1953). "The Spinor Connection in the Unified Einstein Theory of Relativity" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 39 (6): 501–506. doi:10.1073/pnas.39.6.501. PMC 1063813. PMID 16589296.
- Hlavatý, V (1953). "Connections Between Einstein's Two Unified Theories of Relativity" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 39 (6): 507–510. doi:10.1073/pnas.39.6.507. PMC 1063814. PMID 16589297.
- Hlavatý, V (1957). Geometry of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory. Groningen: Noordhoff. Reprinted as ISBN 978-1-178-77017-9.
References
- ↑ Indiana University fast facts
- ↑ Johns Hopkins Television Programs 1948–1960: Highlights of science for 1953
- 1 2 Václav Hlavatý Czech biography, citing the New York Herald Tribune
- 1 2 www.mff.cuni.cz Prof. Václav Hlavatý
- ↑ V. Hlavatý (1928) Mathematische Zeitschrift, Vol 28, No 1, Bemerkung zur Arbeit von Herrn T. Y. Thomas
- ↑ B. Hoffman (ed.), Perspectives in Geometry and Relativity: Essays in Honor of Václav Hlavatý, Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1966.
External links
- Václav Hlavatý at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- Václav Hlavatý biography (in Czech)
- Václav Hlavatý biography (in Czech) includes photograph