Michael Francis Atiyah (born 1929),British mathematician,in front of a blackboard. Atiyah,who grew up in Sudan and Egypt,is considered one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. His work includes algebraic geometry,K theory,index theory and gauge theory. One of his most prominent results was his contribution to the Atiyah-Singer index theorem,with applications in theoretical physics. For this work,he was awarded the Abel Prize in 2004. Atiyah was knighted in 1983. Photographed in 1989,at the Mathematical Institute,Oxford,England |