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| Boris Tsirelson | |
|---|---|
| Name | Boris Tsirelson |
| Native name | Борис Цирельсон |
| Birth date | 6 May 1950 |
| Death date | 21 January 2020 |
| Birth place | Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Death place | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Nationality | Soviet Union, Israel |
| Fields | Probability theory, Functional analysis, Mathematical physics |
| Alma mater | Leningrad State University |
| Doctoral advisor | Ilya Gelfand |
Boris Tsirelson was a Soviet-born Israeli mathematician known for foundational work in probability theory, functional analysis, and mathematical physics. He made influential contributions to Gaussian processes, limit theorems, and the geometry of Banach spaces, impacting fields connected to quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, and stochastic processes. His work is cited across literature related to Brownian motion, random matrices, and ergodic theory.
Born in Leningrad, Tsirelson grew up during the postwar period and attended specialized schools associated with Leningrad State University, St. Petersburg scientific circles, and the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. As a student he studied under mentors linked to the Russian mathematical tradition including members of the schools influenced by Ilya Gelfand, Israel Gelfand, and predecessors from the Moscow Mathematical Society and the Saint Petersburg Mathematical Society. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Leningrad State University and defended theses related to problems arising in the tradition of Andrey Kolmogorov, Paul Lévy, and Norbert Wiener.
Tsirelson held positions at major research centers including appointments at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, visiting roles at institutions such as Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and research collaborations with groups at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University. He participated in seminars connected with the Institute for Advanced Study, the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and international conferences organized by societies like the American Mathematical Society and European Mathematical Society. Later in his career he emigrated to Israel and was affiliated with research institutes in Tel Aviv while maintaining collaborations with colleagues from Cambridge University, ETH Zurich, and University of Chicago.
Tsirelson introduced and developed concepts now standard in studies of Gaussian processes, stochastic calculus, and infinite-dimensional analysis, building on frameworks established by Kolmogorov, Wiener, Itô, and Stratonovich. He formulated counterexamples and structural results concerning non-classical stochastic flows, interacting with work by Kiyoshi Itô, Andrei Skorokhod, Paul Malliavin, and Jean-Pierre Kahane. His investigations of Banach space geometry linked to random series engaged themes from Stefan Banach, Alfréd Haar, and John von Neumann, influencing research in empirical process theory connected to Vladimir Vapnik and Emmanuel Parzen. Tsirelson's analyses of extremal properties of Gaussian measures and sample path regularity interfaced with topics studied by Michel Talagrand, Mikhail Gromov, and Grigori Perelman in metric geometry and concentration of measure. He produced notable results on limit theorems and chaotic decompositions that resonated with the work of Sergey Bernstein, William Feller, and Kolmogorov–Smirnov type methodologies used in statistical testing developed by Andrey Kolmogorov and Neyman–Pearson perspectives. His constructions of exotic stochastic processes and product systems influenced later developments in operator algebras related to Alain Connes and noncommutative probability linked to Dan Voiculescu.
Over his career Tsirelson received recognition from mathematical communities and research bodies including citations and invitations from organizations such as the International Mathematical Union, European Mathematical Society, and national academies like the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He was invited to speak at major gatherings such as the International Congress of Mathematicians and contributed lectures to colloquia hosted by institutions like the Max Planck Society, Royal Society, and National Academy of Sciences. His papers are widely referenced in memorials and retrospectives published by journals associated with the American Mathematical Society, Springer Verlag, and Elsevier.
Tsirelson's personal journey connected the scientific cultures of Soviet Union mathematical schools and Israeli academic life in Tel Aviv, and his mentorship influenced students who joined departments at institutions such as Princeton University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Oxford, and ETH Zurich. His legacy endures through concepts and counterexamples cited alongside the names of Kolmogorov, Wiener, Itô, and Gelfand, and through ongoing research in probability theory impacted by his papers appearing in journals tied to the American Mathematical Society and European Mathematical Society. Posthumous discussions of his work have appeared in proceedings associated with the International Congress of Mathematicians and retrospectives from the Steklov Institute of Mathematics.
Category:1950 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Russian mathematicians Category:Israeli mathematicians Category:Probabilists