Lev Schnirelmann

Lev G. Schnirelmann
Born	(1905-01-02)January 2, 1905 Gomel, Russian Empire
Died	September 24, 1938(1938-09-24) (aged 33) Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Nationality	Russian
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Steklov Mathematical Institute
Alma mater	Moscow State University
Doctoral advisor	Nikolai Luzin
Known for	Schnirelmann density Schnirelmann's constant Schnirelmann's theorem

Lev Genrikhovich Schnirelmann (also Shnirelman, Shnirel'man; Russian: Лев Ге́нрихович Шнирельма́н; January 2, 1905 – September 24, 1938) was a Soviet mathematician who sought to prove Goldbach's conjecture. In 1931, using the Brun sieve, he proved that any natural number greater than 1 can be written as the sum of not more than 20 prime numbers.^{[citation needed]}

His other fundamental work is joint with Lazar Lyusternik. Together, they developed the Lyusternik-Schnirelmann category, as it is called now, based on the previous work by Henri Poincaré, David Birkhoff, and Marston Morse. The theory gives a global invariant of spaces, and has led to advances in differential geometry and topology.

Schnirelmann graduated from Moscow State University (1925) and then worked in Steklov Mathematical Institute (1934–1938). His advisor was Nikolai Luzin.

According to Pontryagin's memoir, Schnirelmann committed suicide in Moscow.^[1]

[edit] See also

• Inscribed square problem
• Schnirelmann density
• Schnirelmann's constant
• Schnirelmann's theorem

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Lev Schnirelmann at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Lev Schnirelmann", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews .
• Lev Genrihovich Schnirelmann, a popular article by V. Tikhomirov and V. Uspensky (in Russian)

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