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| Elon Lages Lima | |
|---|---|
| Name | Elon Lages Lima |
| Birth date | 9 June 1929 |
| Birth place | Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil |
| Death date | 7 May 2017 |
| Death place | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Fields | Topology, Differential Topology, Algebraic Topology, Geometry |
| Alma mater | Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro |
| Doctoral advisor | Edwin Spanier |
Elon Lages Lima was a prominent Brazilian mathematician known for contributions to topology, differential topology, and algebraic topology. He played a central role in developing mathematical research and education in Brazil through teaching at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, mentorship of generations of mathematicians, and authorship of influential textbooks. Lima's career spanned interactions with international figures and institutions across North America, Europe, and South America.
Lima was born in Fortaleza, Ceará and completed early schooling in Brazil. He pursued undergraduate and graduate studies at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and later traveled to the United States to undertake doctoral research under Edwin Spanier at Columbia University and work associated with University of Chicago and Princeton University circles. During his formation he encountered influences from mathematicians such as Hassler Whitney, Norman Steenrod, Jean Leray, Henri Cartan, and André Weil, and engaged with texts by Maurice Fréchet, Emmy Noether, L. E. J. Brouwer, and Henri Poincaré.
Lima returned to Brazil and held professorships at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and contributed to the foundation of research schools linked to the Sociedade Brasileira de Matemática and the Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada. He held visiting appointments and collaborations with institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, École Normale Supérieure, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, and research visits to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Lima supervised doctoral students who later affiliated with universities including Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, and international centers like Imperial College London and École Polytechnique. He participated in conferences such as the International Congress of Mathematicians, Simpósio Brasileiro de Matemática, and workshops at CIRM and MSRI.
Lima's research addressed problems in topology and differential topology, including work on vector fields, characteristic classes, and fixed-point theory influenced by Lefschetz fixed-point theorem, Poincaré–Hopf theorem, and ideas from Stephen Smale and John Milnor. He studied the structure of manifolds related to results by René Thom and Marston Morse, explored aspects of cohomology theories in the spirit of Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane, and examined homotopy-theoretic problems linked to concepts by J. H. C. Whitehead and George W. Whitehead. Lima contributed to the understanding of immersions and embeddings tracing lineage from Whitney embedding theorem and influenced by work of Raoul Bott and Michael Atiyah. His collaborations and correspondences connected to researchers such as Jean-Pierre Serre, Henri Cartan, Serge Lang, Armand Borel, Raoul Bott, John R. Munkres, René Thom, André Haefliger, and Dennis Sullivan.
Lima authored and coauthored numerous papers in journals and several textbooks widely used across Brazil and Portugal-speaking countries. His expository and pedagogical works interacted with classical treatments by George B. Folland, Walter Rudin, Michael Spivak, Stephen Axler, Elias Stein, and G. H. Hardy style clarity, and his books served as primary references in curricula at institutions like Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and Universidade de São Paulo. He contributed chapters to collected volumes honoring figures such as Jean Leray and Henri Cartan and edited proceedings from symposia involving Sociedade Brasileira de Matemática, IMPA, and international workshops at Universidade Estadual de Campinas and Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada.
Lima received national awards and held memberships in academies including the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and recognition from Sociedade Brasileira de Matemática. He was honored with distinctions comparable to medals and prizes bestowed by scientific societies, and invited plenary and keynote addresses at events such as the International Congress of Mathematicians and national symposia in Latin America. His work was celebrated in festschrifts alongside mathematicians like Jacob Palis, Celso Costa, Mauricio Peixoto, Artur Avila, and Carlos Gustavo Moreira.
Lima's legacy includes a generation of Brazilian mathematicians active at universities such as Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, and research centers like Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada and Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear. He influenced Brazilian scientific policy discussions involving ministries and foundations like CNPq and CAPES, and contributed to outreach linking mathematics to cultural institutions in Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza. Colleagues and students commemorated his contributions in meetings at IMPA, SBM conferences, and dedicated volumes celebrating his work and mentorship.
Category:Brazilian mathematicians Category:Topologists Category:1929 births Category:2017 deaths