Pioneering topologist who solved the four-color theorem, a famous problem in mathematics that had gone unsolved for over a century.
Wolfgang Haken, a German-American mathematician, is renowned for his groundbreaking work in topology, particularly in the realm of 3-manifolds. He is best known for his 1976 proof, along with colleague Kenneth Appel, of the four-color theorem, which states that any planar graph can be properly colored using at most four colors.
Haken was born on June 21, 1928, in Berlin, Germany, to Werner Haken, a physicist who had the esteemed Max Planck as his doctoral thesis advisor. In 1953, Haken earned his Ph.D. degree in mathematics from Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Kiel University), where he met his future wife, Anna-Irmgard von Bredow, who also earned her Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the same university in 1959.
Haken's academic career took off in 1962 when he became a visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was promoted to full professor in 1965 and remained at the university until his retirement in 1998. During his tenure, Haken introduced several influential concepts, including Haken manifolds, Kneser-Haken finiteness, and an expansion of the work of Kneser into a theory of normal surfaces.
One of Haken's most significant contributions to the field of topology is his algorithm to detect whether a knot is unknotted. This work has had a profound impact on the study of topology and has far-reaching implications for various fields, including physics, biology, and computer science.
In recognition of his groundbreaking work on the four-color theorem, Haken was awarded the 1979 Fulkerson Prize by the American Mathematical Society. He also delivered an invited address at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki in 1978, a testament to his reputation as a leading expert in his field.
Haken's family is a testament to his passion for mathematics. His eldest son, Armin, has made significant contributions to the field of computer science, proving that there exist propositional tautologies that require resolution proofs of exponential size. His eldest daughter, Dorothea Blostein, is a professor of computer science, known for her discovery of the master theorem for divide-and-conquer recurrences. His second son, Lippold, is the inventor of the Continuum Finger.
Haken passed away on October 2, 2022, at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy of groundbreaking research and a family that continues to make significant contributions to the world of mathematics and computer science.
Haken's work on the four-color theorem has had a profound impact on various fields, including computer science, physics, and biology. His algorithm to detect whether a knot is unknotted has far-reaching implications for the study of complex systems and has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the natural world.
In conclusion, Wolfgang Haken's groundbreaking work in topology and mathematics has left an indelible mark on the scientific community. His proof of the four-color theorem and his contributions to the field of algorithmic topology have opened up new avenues of research and have inspired generations of mathematicians and scientists.
95 Years Old
A renowned mathematician and academic who made groundbreaking contributions to topology, differential geometry, and algebraic K-theory, earning him a Fields Medal and Abel Prize.
97 Years Old
A renowned mathematician and academic who made groundbreaking contributions to topology, geometry, and theoretical physics, earning him numerous accolades, including the Fields Medal and Abel Prize.
Born in 1923
A renowned mathematician who made significant contributions to differential geometry, topology, and geometry, particularly in the development of Morse theory.
77 Years Old
A renowned mathematician and academic who made groundbreaking contributions to differential geometry, topology, and geometric analysis, earning him a Fields Medal and numerous other accolades.
