(December 10, 1804 – February 18, 1851)
Prodigiously talented, Jacobi’s university matriculation was delayed because he was too young. He would later become the first Jew who obtained maths professorial chair in Germany. And within few years, he established himself as one of 19th century’s foremost mathematicians. Although his expertise spanned all fields, he settled for Algebra, Analysis, and Number Theory. A prolific researcher who excelled in learning as well as in teaching, Jacobi’s discoveries frequented the Crelle’s Journal. Alongside Henrik Abel, he pioneered the Theory of Elliptic Functions and discovered many Theta Functions. Their impressive but competitive works reinvigorated the-then aging Adrien-Marie Legendre. Therewithal, Peter Dirichlet deemed him the greatest Berlin Academy’s member since Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Jacobi’s proclivity for Number Theory is typified by monuments: such as his Four-Square Theorem. Likewise, his chef-d’oeuvre in Physics was on Dynamics. The most celebrated being his stellar research on Partial Differential Equations — as well as how he applied them to Dynamics. Chief among these applications is the Hamilton-Jacobi Equation, which is (a variation of Principle of Least Action) vital in identifying conserved quantities for mechanical systems. This Hamilton-Jacobi Equation is the only mechanical formulation in which a particle’s motion could be represented as a wave. It relates to Schroedinger’s Equation; and is thus, regarded as the “closest approach” of classical mechanics to quantum mechanics. Jacobi’s high-profile mentees include Gustav Kirchhoff (who tutored Emmy Noether’s father: Max Noether), Otto Hesse (who supervised Max Noether’s doctorate) and Paul Gordan (the king of invariant theory who supervised Emmy Noether’s doctorate).
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Excellent blog, the best blog I have seen, and this post was very good to know. Thank you.
Fabulous!
Carl Jacobi was a magnificent and prolific researcher
Valid points
Certainly one of the greatest!
Very well-written
He was outstanding in his knowledge and methods of solving problems.
Carl Jacobi and Peter Dirichlet, two great friends, but death took both a bit too soon.
Thanks for the remembrance.
Greater geniuses than him are rare
I love your blog posts for their brevity, clarity and magnificence. Well-done!
With these great rankings and writings, this website deserves awards.
Great tips and hints
Precisely written!
What a genius!
Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Very good mathematician
Really informative. Thanks again.
Thanks for sharing
Knowledge is good.
He was immensely gifted.
Great blog, I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
Definition and meaning of answers.
Book-marked for later
So good that he was too young to matriculate. Can’t say that for many people 😛
Thumbs-up for major discoveries in many areas.