Gotthold Eisenstein

Gotthold Eisenstein
Gotthold Eisenstein
Born	(1823-04-16)16 April 1823 Berlin, Prussia
Died	11 October 1852(1852-10-11) (aged 29) Berlin, Prussia
Nationality	German
Alma mater	University of Berlin
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics
Doctoral advisor	Ernst Eduard Kummer Nikolaus Wolfgang Fischer

Ferdinand Gotthold Max Eisenstein (16 April 1823 – 11 October 1852) was a distinguished German mathematician who made significant contributions to number theory and analysis. Born in Berlin, Prussia, to Jewish parents who converted to Protestantism before his birth, Eisenstein displayed exceptional mathematical talent from a young age.

Early Life and Education

Despite suffering from health problems, including meningitis, Eisenstein excelled academically. At 14, he enrolled in Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium and later attended Friedrich Werder Gymnasium. His teachers recognized his mathematical abilities, and by the age of 15, he had mastered the curriculum. He then turned to the works of Leonhard Euler and Joseph-Louis Lagrange to study differential calculus.

While still a student, Eisenstein began attending lectures by Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet and others at the University of Berlin. In 1843, he met William Rowan Hamilton in Dublin, who introduced him to Niels Henrik Abel's proof of the impossibility of solving fifth-degree polynomials, sparking his interest in mathematical research.

A Remarkable Period (1843-1848)

Upon returning to Berlin in 1843, Eisenstein passed his graduation exams and enrolled in the University. Within a year, he presented his first work to the Berlin Academy on cubic forms in two variables. He also gained the patronage of Alexander von Humboldt, who secured grants to support Eisenstein's financial needs.

During this period, Eisenstein published numerous papers in Crelle's Journal, including two proofs of the law of quartic reciprocity and analogous laws for cubic and quartic reciprocity. He also visited Carl Friedrich Gauss in Göttingen and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau. In 1847, Eisenstein habilitated at the University of Berlin and began teaching there.

Challenges and Continued Research

Despite his revolutionary activities in Berlin, which led to a brief imprisonment in 1848, Eisenstein continued his mathematical research. He made significant contributions to quadratic partitions of prime numbers and the reciprocity laws. His work was recognized by his election to the Academy of Göttingen and Berlin in 1851 and 1852, respectively.

Illness and Death

Unfortunately, Eisenstein's health deteriorated, and he succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 29. Alexander von Humboldt, a lifelong supporter, accompanied his remains to the cemetery.

Publications

• Eisenstein, Gotthold (1847), Mathematische Abhandlungen. Besonders aus dem Gebiete der höheren Arithmetik und der elliptischen Funktionen (in German), Reimer, Berlin
• Eisenstein, Gotthold (1975), Mathematische Werke (in German), New York: AMS Chelsea Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8284-1280-3, MR 0427029 Weil's review

Eponym concepts

• Eisenstein's criterion
• Eisenstein ideal
• Eisenstein integer
• Eisenstein prime
• Eisenstein reciprocity
• Eisenstein sum
• Eisenstein series
• Eisenstein's theorem
• Eisenstein triple
• Eisenstein–Kronecker number
• Real analytic Eisenstein series

See also

• Elliptic Gauss sum

Further reading

• Biermann, Kurt-R. (1959), "Eisenstein, Ferdinand Gotthold Max", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), 4: 420
• Cantor, Moritz (1877), "Eisenstein, Gotthold", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), 5: 774–775, wikisource
• Dunnington, G. Waldo (1955), Carl Friedrich Gauss: titan of science. A study of his life and work, New York: Exposition Press, ISBN 978-0-88385-547-8, MR 0072814
• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Gotthold Eisenstein", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
• Schappacher, Norbert (1998), "Gotthold Eisenstein. 16 April 1823--11 October 1852", Mathematics in Berlin, Basel, Boston, Berlin: Birkhäuser, pp. 55–60, MR 1648677
• Warnecke, Heinz (1988), "Gotthold Eisenstein (1823--1852)---ein mathematisches und hochschulpädagogisches Talent aus Berlin", Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 37 (2): 187–193, ISSN 0863-0631, MR 0975243
• Weil, André (1976), "Review: Gotthold Eisenstein, Mathematische Werke", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 82 (5): 658–663, doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1976-14095-5, ISSN 0002-9904
• Lemmermeyer, Franz (2020), "Gotthold Eisenstein and Philosopher John", European Mathematical Society Newsletter, 2020–9 (117): 26–28, arXiv:2101.03344, doi:10.4171/NEWS/117/5, S2CID 225256928

External links

• Gotthold Eisenstein at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• The life of Gotthold Ferdinand Eisenstein Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine by M.Schmitz (PDF format)
• Ferdinand Eisenstein by Larry Freeman (2005), Fermat's Last Theorem Blog.