Cahit Arf, probably in front of METU Department of Mathematics.

Cahit Arf (October 11, 1910 - December 26, 1997) was a Turkish mathematician. He is known for the Arf invariant of a quadratic form in characteristic 2 (applied in knot theory and surgery theory) in topology, the Hasse-Arf theorem in ramification theory, and Arf rings. He facilitated the now-celebrated visit of Robert Langlands to Turkey (now famous for the Langlands program, among many other things); during which Langlands worked out some arduous calculations on the epsilon factors of Artin L-functions. Image File history File links CahitArf. ... Image File history File links CahitArf. ... Middle East Technical University (METU) (Turkish: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly abbreviated as ODTÜ) is an international university well known for its qualified scientific education and research in Ankara, Turkey. ... October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Leonhard Euler is considered by many people to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is mathematics. ... In mathematics, a quadratic form is a homogeneous polynomial of degree two in a number of variables. ... The word characteristic has several meanings: In mathematics, see characteristic (algebra) characteristic function characteristic subgroup Euler characteristic method of characteristics In genetics, see characteristic (genetics). ... Trefoil knot, the simplest non-trivial knot. ... Topology (Greek topos, place and logos, study) is a branch of mathematics concerned with spatial properties preserved under bicontinuous deformation (stretching without tearing or gluing); these are the topological invariants. ... In mathematics, ramification is a geometric term used for branching out, in the way that the square root function, for complex numbers, can be seen to have two branches differing in sign. ... Robert Langlands (born 1936 in Canada) is one of the most significant mathematicians of the 20th century, with profound insights in number theory and representation theory. ... In mathematics, the Langlands program is a web of far-reaching and influential conjectures that connect number theory and the representation theory of certain groups. ... In mathematics, an Artin L-function is a type of Dirichlet series associated to a linear representation ρ of a Galois group G. These functions were introduced in the 1920s by Emil Artin, in connection with his research into class field theory. ...

Biography

Cahit Arf was born on October 11, 1910 in Selanik (Thessaloniki), which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire. His family migrated to Istanbul with the outbreak of the Balkan War in 1912. The family finally settled in Izmir where Cahit Arf received his primary education. Upon receiving a scholarship from the Turkish Ministry of Education he continued his education in Paris and graduated from Ecole Normale Superieure. October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The White Tower The Arch of Galerius Map showing the Thessaloníki prefecture Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is the second-largest city of Greece and is the principal city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power (1683) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Söğüt (1299-1326), Bursa (1326-1365), Edirne (1365-1453), Ä°stanbul (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanl... Istanbul (other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and economic center. ... The Balkan Wars were two wars in South-eastern Europe in 1912-1913 in the course of which the Balkan League (Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria) first conquered Ottoman-held Macedonia and most of Thrace and then fell out over the division of the spoils, Bulgaria suffering defeat at the... Shows the Location of the Province Ä°zmir Izmir from space, June 1996 Izmir (Turkish spelling Ä°zmir, contraction of its former name Smyrna), the second-largest port (after Ä°stanbul) and the third most populous city (2,409,000 in 2000) of Turkey, is located on the Aegean Sea near the Gulf... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, as viewed from the Trocadéro This article is about the capital and largest city in France. ... The quadrangle at the main ENS building on rue dUlm is known as the Cour aux Ernests – the Ernests being the goldfish in the pond. ...

Returning to Turkey, he taught mathematics at Galatasaray Lisesi. In 1933 he joined the Mathematics Department of Istanbul University. In 1937 he went to Göttingen, where he received his PhD from the University of Göttingen and he worked with Helmut Hasse. He returned to Istanbul University and worked there until his involvement with the foundation work of Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK) upon President Cemal Gursel's appointment in 1962. After serving as the founding director of the council in 1963, he joined the Mathematics Department of Robert College in Istanbul. Professor Arf spent the period of 1964 - 1966 working at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He later visited University of California, Berkeley for one year. Euclid, a famous Greek mathematician known as the father of geometry, is shown here in detail from The School of Athens by Raphael. ... Galatasaray Lisesi in winter // Introduction Galatasaray Lisesi Lycée de Galatasaray is one of the most renowned and influential high schools of modern Turkey, in addition to being the oldest school of the Ottoman Empire. ... Istanbul University is one of the oldest universities in Europe (founded in 1453), and the oldest in Turkey. ... Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Helmut Hasse (pronounced HAHS uh) (25 August 1898- 26 December 1979) was a German mathematician working in algebraic number theory, known for fundamental contributions to class field theory, the application of p-adic numbers to local classfield theory and diophantine geometry (Hasse principle), and to local zeta functions. ... TÃœBÄ°TAK is an acronym for The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknik AraÅŸtırma Kurumu). ... Cemal Gürsel was a Turkish army officer, political leader and the 4th president of Turkey. ... Robert College is an American high school in Ä°stanbul, Turkey, the oldest American school outside the USA.[1] It was founded in 1863 by Christopher Robert, at the time of the Ottoman Empire. ... Fuld Hall The Institute for Advanced Study is a private institution in Princeton Township, New Jersey, U.S.A. (although it is not part of Princeton University), designed to foster pure cutting-edge research by scientists in a variety of fields without the complications of teaching or funding, or the... Princeton, New Jersey, is the name of a section of Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as the University of California at Berkeley, UC Berkeley, Cal, California, or Berkeley) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ...

Upon his final return to Turkey, he joined the Mathematics Department of the Middle East Technical University and continued his studies there until his retirement in 1980. Professor Arf received numerous awards for his contributions to mathematics, among them are: Inonu Award in 1948, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Science Award in 1974, and Commandeur des Palmes Academiques (France) in 1994. Professor Arf was a member of the Mainz Academy and the Turkish Academy of Sciences. He was the president of the Turkish Mathematical Society from 1985 until 1989. Cahit Arf died on December 26, 1997 in Bebek, Istanbul, at the age of 87. His collected works were published, in 1988, by the Turkish Mathematical Society. Middle East Technical University (METU) (Turkish: Orta DoÄŸu Teknik Ãœniversitesi, commonly abbreviated as ODTÃœ) is an international university well known for its qualified scientific education and research in Ankara, Turkey. ... Inonu can refer to: Ismet Inönü — (1884 – December 25, 1973) a Turkish soldier, statesman and the second president of Turkey. ... Bebek is a district of the city of Istanbul. ...

Influence

Professor Arf's influence on Turkish Mathematics was profound. Although he had very few formal students, almost all of the present day active mathematicians of Turkey, at some time of their careers, had fruitful discussions on their field of interest with him and had received support and encouragement.

Cahit Arf is regarded as the greatest Turkish mathematician of the twentieth century (the runner-up for the title could be Selman Akbulut). (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Selam Akbulut is a Turkish mathematician and currently a faculty at Michigan State University. ...

See also: List of Turkish scientists Itzhak Bars, Physics Murat Günaydın, Physics Cahit Arf, Mathematics Selman Akbulut, Mathematics Ulugh Beg Astronomy Asim Orhan Barut Physics Nihat Berker, Physics Feza Gürsey, Physics Erdal İnönü, Physics Behram Kursunoglu Physics Ayse Erzan, Physics A. M. Celal Sengor Geology Oktay Sinanoglu, Chemistry Turgay Uzer, Physics Mustafa...

Cahit Arf Lectures

Middle East Technical University Department of Mathematics organizes a special lecture session each year in the name and memory of Cahit Arf. Previous lecturers include: Middle East Technical University (METU) (Turkish: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly abbreviated as ODTÜ) is an international university well known for its qualified scientific education and research in Ankara, Turkey. ...

• 2005: Peter Sarnak of Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study
• 2004: Robert Langlands of the Institute for Advanced Study
• 2003: David Mumford of Brown University Division of Applied Mathematics
• 2002: Don Zagier of University of Utrecht / Collége de France
• 2001: Gerhard Frey of University of Essen Institute for Experimental Mathematics

Peter Sarnak (born 18 December 1953, Johannesburg) is a South African-born mathematician. ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located on an extensive campus mostly in the Borough of Princeton and partly in the Princeton Township in New Jersey, United States. ... Fuld Hall The Institute for Advanced Study is a private institution in Princeton Township, New Jersey, U.S.A. (although it is not part of Princeton University), designed to foster pure cutting-edge research by scientists in a variety of fields without the complications of teaching or funding, or the... Robert Langlands (born 1936 in Canada) is one of the most significant mathematicians of the 20th century, with profound insights in number theory and representation theory. ... Fuld Hall The Institute for Advanced Study is a private institution in Princeton Township, New Jersey, U.S.A. (although it is not part of Princeton University), designed to foster pure cutting-edge research by scientists in a variety of fields without the complications of teaching or funding, or the... David Bryant Mumford (born 11 June 1937) is an American mathematician known for distinguished work in algebraic geometry, and then for research into vision and pattern theory. ... Brown University is an Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island. ... Don Bernhard Zagier (1951 - ) is an American mathematician. ... Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht in Dutch) is a university in Utrecht, The Netherlands. ... Courtyard of the Collège de France. ... Gerhard Frey is a German mathematician, known for his work in number theory. ... ...

External links

• Cahit Arf Lectures homepage
• Cahit Arf
• Page and links on Cahit Arf
• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. Cahit Arf at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.