Gerd Faltings
Early Life and Education
Gerd Faltings was born on July 28, 1954, in Gelsenkirchen-Buer, Germany. He showed a keen interest in mathematics from a young age, which led him to pursue his undergraduate studies in the field at the Münster University. He completed his diploma in 1978.
Faltings continued his studies at the University of Münster, where he received his doctorate in 1981 under the supervision of Hans-Joachim Nastold. His doctoral thesis, titled "A new proof of the Mordell conjecture", was a significant contribution to the field of arithmetic geometry.
Career and Research
After completing his doctorate, Faltings held positions at several prestigious institutions. He was a professor at the Wuppertal University from 1982 to 1984. He then moved to the United States, where he worked at Princeton from 1985 to 1994. In 1995, Faltings returned to Germany to join the Max Planck Institute in Bonn, where he is currently a director.
Faltings is best known for his work in arithmetic geometry, specifically his proof of the Mordell conjecture in 1983. This conjecture, proposed by Louis Mordell in 1922, states that a curve of genus greater than 1 over the field of rational numbers has only finitely many rational points. Faltings' proof of this conjecture was groundbreaking and earned him the Fields Medal in 1986.
In addition to the Mordell conjecture, Faltings has made significant contributions to several other areas of mathematics. These include the Tate conjecture, the Shafarevich conjecture, and the Langlands program. His work has had a profound impact on the field of arithmetic geometry and has influenced many subsequent developments.
Awards and Honours
Faltings has received numerous awards and honours for his contributions to mathematics. In 1986, he was awarded the Fields Medal, often considered the highest honour in mathematics. He was also awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996 and the King Faisal International Prize in Science in 2014.
In addition to these awards, Faltings is a member of several prestigious societies. He was elected to the German National Academy of Sciences in 1992 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996. He is also a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Personal Life
Faltings is a private individual and prefers to keep his personal life away from the public eye. He is known for his dedication to mathematics and his rigorous approach to research. Despite his many achievements, he remains humble and focused on his work.