Cahit Arf

Infobox_Scientist
name = Cahit Arf


caption =
birth_date = birth date|1910|10|11|mf=y
birth_place = Selanik (Thessaloniki)
nationality =
death_date = death date and age|1997|12|26|1910|10|11|mf=y
death_place = Bebek, Istanbul
field = Mathematics
work_institution = Middle East Technical University
Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK)
known_for = Arf invariant
footnotes =

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.

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 İzmir 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.

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.

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.

Influence

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.

Arf is regarded as the greatest Turkish mathematician of the twentieth century (the runner-up for the title could be Selman Akbulut).

Cahit Arf Lectures

Middle East Technical University [http://www.math.metu.edu.tr/ Department of Mathematics] organizes a special lecture session each year in the name and memory of Cahit Arf. Previous lecturers include:
* 2007: Hendrik Lenstra of Universiteit Leiden Mathematisch Instituut
* 2006: Jean-Pierre Serre of Collège de France
* 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 / Collège de France
* 2001: Gerhard Frey of University of Essen Institute for Experimental Mathematics

External links

* [http://arflectures.math.metu.edu.tr/ Cahit Arf Lectures homepage]
* [http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Arf.html Cahit Arf]
* [http://www.math.metu.edu.tr/cahitarf/ Page and links on Cahit Arf]
*

Persondata
NAME= Arf, Cahit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Turkish Mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH= October 11, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH= Selanik (Thessaloniki)
DATE OF DEATH= December 26, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH= Bebek, Istanbul