Trygve Nagell

Trygve in the 1930s

Trygve Nagell (first he was called Nagel) (born July 13, 1895 in Oslo , † January 24, 1988 in Uppsala ) was a Norwegian mathematician who dealt with number theory.

biography

Nagell studied at the University of Oslo with Axel Thue . He then attended numerous European universities (including Hamburg, Göttingen, Berlin, Strasbourg, Paris, Bologna, St. Petersburg). In 1931 he became a professor at Uppsala University , where he stayed until his retirement in 1962. Even after that he lived in Uppsala.

During the Second World War he was in charge of the Norwegian high school in Uppsala. In 1951 he received the Norwegian Order of St. Olafs (Commander) and in 1939 he became a knight of the Swedish North Star Order . In 1947 he received the Haakon VII Freedom Cross. He had been a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences since 1925 , the Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab since 1952 and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since 1943 . The University of Uppsala awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1956 .

Nagell dealt with Diophantine equations (solutions of polynomials in whole numbers). In particular, he dealt with elliptic curves over the rational numbers ( curves of gender 1). He is known for the Lutz and Nagell theorem , which allows a calculation of the torsion points of elliptical curves over the rational numbers. He also examined the possible torsion groups. Here, however, he was overtaken by the results of Barry Mazur in 1977.

He was married twice and had two children from his first marriage.

See also

• Ramanujan-Nagell equation

Fonts

• Introduction to Number Theory , Wiley 1951, 2nd edition Chelsea 1981.
• L'analysis indéterminée de degré supérieur , Gauthier-Villars, Paris 1929
• Collected papers. , Queen's University, Queen's papers in pure and applied mathematics, 4 volumes, 2002 (editor Paulo Ribenboim ).

Web links

• Obituary in the Acta Arithmetica by JWS Cassels
• Theorem by Lutz and Nagell
• Article in Norsk biografisk leksikon

Remarks

1. ↑ the points of finite order with regard to the special addition of rational points on these curves, see the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer
2. ^ Nagell: Solutions de quelquesproblemèmes dans la théorie arithmétique des cubiques planes du premier genre. Scientific writings of the Oslo Academy 1935, no.1. Proven independently from the French Élisabeth Lutz in Crelles Journal 1937.