Noam Elkies: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = [[New York City]], US

| alma_mater = [[Columbia University]], B.S. (1985)
<br/>[[Harvard University]], Ph.D. (1987)

| awards = [[William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition|Putnam Fellow]] <br> [[Lester R. Ford Award]] (2004) <br> [[Levi L. Conant Prize]] (2004)

'''Noam David Elkies''' (born August 25, 1966) is an American [[mathematician]] anda professor of [[mathematics]] at [[Harvard University]]. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professor to receive [[tenure]] at Harvard. He is also a pianist,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://research.msu.edu/event/piano-recital-young-hyun-cho-and-noam-elkies|year=2018|title=Piano Recital with Young Hyun Cho and Noam Elkies}}</ref> [[Chess title|chess national master]] and an accomplisheda [[chess composer]].

Elkies was born to an engineer father and a piano teacher mother.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McClain|first=Dylan Loeb|date=2010-08-28|title=Skilled at the Chessboard, Keyboard and Blackboard|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/crosswords/chess/29chess.html|access-date=2020-09-11|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He attended [[Stuyvesant High School]] in [[New York City]] for three years<ref>{{cite news|title=Math and Music: For the Moment|first=Daniel|last=Altman|date=9 February 1995|work=The Harvard Crimson|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1995/2/9/math-and-music-pbabt-the-tender/|quote=Elkies spent eight years of his youth in Israel, and hecamehe came to New York City having read a Hebrew translation of Euclid but without any significant knowledge of English.}}</ref> before graduating in 1982 at age 15.<ref name="cv">{{cite web|url=http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elkies/math_cv.html|first=Noam D.|last=Elkies|title=CV|website=Noam Elkies|publisher=Department of Mathematics, Harvard University|accessdateaccess-date=10 August 2018}}</ref><ref name=Crimson>{{cite webnews|last1=Castillo|first1=Tom|title=Fifteen Minutes: Gnoshin' with Noam|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/4/20/fifteen-minutes-gnoshin-with-noam-phe/?page=single|publishernewspaper=[[The Harvard Crimson]]|date=April 20, 2000}}</ref> InA [[child prodigy]], in 1981, at age 14, heElkies was awarded a gold medal at the 22nd [[International Mathematical Olympiad]], receiving a perfect score of 42.,<ref>{{IMO results|id=10464}}</ref> one of the [[List of International Mathematical Olympiad participants|youngest to ever do so]]. He went on to [[Columbia University]], where he won the [[Putnam competition]] at the age of sixteen years and four months, making him one of the youngest [[William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition#Putnam Fellows|Putnam Fellows]] in history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.d.umn.edu/~jgallian/putnam05.pdf |format=PDF |title=The Putnam Competition from 1938–2006 |first=Joseph A. |last=Gallian |accessdateaccess-date=2007-10-31 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113221122/http://www.d.umn.edu/~jgallian/putnam05.pdf |archivedatearchive-date=2006-11-13 |df= }}</ref> HeElkies was a [[WilliamPutnam LowellFellow Putnamtwice Mathematicalmore Competitionduring his undergraduate years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maa.org/programs-and-communities/member-communities/maa-awards/putnam-competition-individual-and-team-winners|title=Putnam FellowCompetition Individual and Team Winners|publisher=[[Mathematical Association of America]]|access-date=5 twoMarch more2019}}</ref> timesHe duringgraduated valedictorian of his undergraduateclass yearsin 1985.<ref>{{cnCite book|last=Columbia College (Columbia University). Office of Alumni Affairs and Development|url=http://archive.org/details/ldpd_12981092_029|title=Columbia College today|last2=Columbia College (Columbia University)|date=1987|publisher=New York, N.Y. : Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development|others=Columbia University Libraries}}</ref> He then earned his Ph.D.PhD in 1987 under the supervision of [[Benedict Gross]] and [[Barry Mazur]] at [[Harvard University]].<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=22514}}</ref>

From 1987 to 1990, heElkies was a junior fellow of the [[Harvard Society of Fellows]].{{refn|{{cite web |url=http://www.socfell.fas.harvard.edu/current%20and%20former%20jf%20term.html |title=Harvard University. Society of Fellows. Current and Former Junior Fellows |access-date=2013-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116051400/http://www.socfell.fas.harvard.edu/current%20and%20former%20jf%20term.html |archive-date=2013-01-16 |deadurl-url=yes |dfstatus=dead }} }}

In 1987, heElkies proved that an [[elliptic curve]] over the rational numbers is [[supersingular prime (for an elliptic curve)|supersingular]] at infinitely many primes. In 1988, he found a counterexample to [[Euler's sum of powers conjecture]] for fourth powers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314145039.htm|year=2008|title=Mathematicians Find New Solutions To An Ancient Puzzle}}</ref> His work on these and other problems won him recognition and a position as an associate professor at Harvard in 1990.<ref name="cv"/> In 1993, heElkies was made a full, [[tenure]]d professor at the age of 26. This made him the youngest full professor in the history of Harvard.<ref name="nyt">{{citation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/crosswords/chess/29chess.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Skilled at the Chessboard, Keyboard and Blackboard|date=August 28, 2010|first=Dylan Loeb|last=McClain}}</ref> Along with [[A. O. L. Atkin]] he extended [[Schoof's algorithm]] to create the [[Schoof–Elkies–Atkin algorithm]].

}}</ref> Elkies is an associate of Harvard's [[Lowell House]].<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.lowell.harvard.edu/scrpeople/show.php?name_search_type=starts+with&name_search_value=noam&submitBtnName=Search-elkies|title=LowellNoam HouseElkies|work=People: SCRSenior Common Room Faculty|accessdatepublisher=2009-07-27}}Lowell {{DeadHouse, linkHarvard|access-date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot2024-04-11}}</ref>

HeElkies is a [[bass-baritone]] and playsformerly played the piano for the [[Harvard Glee Club]]. In an article Jameson N. Marvin, theformer director of the Glee Club, comparescompared him to "a [[Bach]] or a [[Mozart]]," citing "his[h]is gifted musicality, superior musicianship and sight-reading ability.".<ref>{{cite webnews|last1=Morantz|first1=Alison D.|title=Music + Math: A Common Equation?|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/11/30/music-math-a-common-equation/?page=single|publishernewspaper=''The Harvard Crimson''|date=November 30, 1988}}</ref> He rings the bells of Lowell House.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fifteen Professors to Meet {{!}} Magazine {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/17/fifteen-to-meet-2015/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref>

Elkies is a [[chess composer|composer]] and [[Chess problem|solver]] of [[chess problem]]s (winning the 1996 [[World Chess Solving Championship]]).<ref name="nyt"/> HeOne of his problems is used by the chess trainer [[Mark Dvoretsky]] in his book "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual".<ref>Mark Dvoretsky: Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, 4th Edition 2014. Russell Enterprises, Milford, CT. {{ISBN|978-1-941270-04-2}}. Chapter 1: Pawn Endings.</ref> Elkies holds the title of [[National Master]] from the [[United States Chess Federation]], but he no longer plays competitively.<ref>[http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?11307183 Noam D Elkies rating card], USCF</ref>

In 1994, heElkies was an [[invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians]] in [[ZurichZürich]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mathunion.org/db/ICM/Speakers/SortedByLastname.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927014538/http://www.mathunion.org/db/ICM/Speakers/SortedByLastname.php |archive-date=2011-09-27 |title=International Mathematical Union (IMU)}}</ref> In 2004, he received a [[Lester R. Ford Award]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Paul R. Halmos – Lester R. Ford Awards|url=https://www.maa.org/programs-and-communities/member-communities/maa-awards/writing-awards/paul-halmos-lester-ford-awards|website=Mathematical Association of America|access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref>

and the [[Levi L. Conant Prize]].<ref>{{citation|url=httphttps://www.ams.org/notices/200404/comm-conant.pdf|title=2004 Conant Prize|journal=[[Notices of the American Mathematical Society]]|volume=51|issue=4|date=April 2004|pages=433–434}}</ref>

In 2017, heElkies was elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]].<ref>[http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/may-2-2017-NAS-Election.html National Academy of Sciences Members and Foreign Associates Elected], [[National Academy of Sciences]], May 2, 2017.</ref>

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160102194527/http://www.permutationpuzzles.org/chess/Elkies/ Endgame Explorations] – an 11-part series of articles by Noam Elkies in ''Chess Horizons''

[[Category:RadcliffeHarvard fellowsFellows]]

[[Category:AmericanColumbia JewsCollege (New York) alumni]]

[[Category:Harvard University Department of Mathematics faculty]]