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BernhardRiemann
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

GeorgFriedrichBernhardRiemann(German:[iman]17
September182620July1866)wasaninfluentialGerman
mathematicianwhomadelastingandrevolutionary
contributionstoanalysis,numbertheory,anddifferential
geometry.Inthefieldofrealanalysis,heismostlyknownfor
thefirstrigorousformulationoftheintegral,theRiemann
integral,andhisworkonFourierseries.Hiscontributionsto
complexanalysisincludemostnotablytheintroductionof
Riemannsurfaces,breakingnewgroundinanatural,geometric
treatmentofcomplexanalysis.Hisfamous1859paperonthe
primecountingfunction,containingtheoriginalstatementof
theRiemannhypothesis,isregarded,althoughitishisonly
paperinthefield,asoneofthemostinfluentialpapersin
analyticnumbertheory.Throughhispioneeringcontributions
todifferentialgeometry,Riemannlaidthefoundationsofthe
mathematicsofgeneralrelativity.

BernhardRiemann

BernhardRiemannin1863.
Born

GeorgFriedrichBernhard
Riemann
17September1826
Breselenz,KingdomofHanover
(moderndayGermany)

Died

20July1866(aged39)
Selasca,KingdomofItaly

Residence

KingdomofHanover

Nationality

German

Fields

MathematicsPhysics

Institutions

GeorgAugustUniversityof
Gttingen

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Earlyyears
1.2 Education
1.3 Academia
1.4 AustroPrussianWaranddeathinItaly
2 Riemanniangeometry
3 Complexanalysis
4 Realanalysis
5 Numbertheory
6 Writings
7 Seealso
8 References
9 Furtherreading
10 Externallinks

Almamater

Thesis

Grundlagenfreineallgemeine
TheoriederFunktioneneiner
vernderlichencomplexenGre
(http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/Hist
Math/People/Riemann/Grund/Grun
d.pdf) (1851)

Doctoral
advisor

CarlFriedrichGauss

Biography
Earlyyears
RiemannwasborninBreselenz,avillagenearDannenbergin
theKingdomofHanoverinwhatistheFederalRepublicof
Germanytoday.Hisfather,FriedrichBernhardRiemann,wasa
poorLutheranpastorinBreselenzwhofoughtinthe
NapoleonicWars.Hismother,CharlotteEbell,diedbeforeher
childrenhadreachedadulthood.Riemannwasthesecondofsix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Riemann

GeorgAugustUniversityof
Gttingen
BerlinUniversity

Otheracademic
advisors

GottholdEisenstein
MoritzA.Stern
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children,shyandsufferingfromnumerousnervous
breakdowns.Riemannexhibitedexceptionalmathematical
skills,suchascalculationabilities,fromanearlyagebut
sufferedfromtimidityandafearofspeakinginpublic.

Education

CarlW.B.Goldschmidt
Notable
students

GustavRoch

Knownfor

Seelist

Influences

J.P.G.L.Dirichlet
Signature

During1840,RiemannwenttoHanovertolivewithhis
grandmotherandattendlyceum(middleschool).Afterthe
deathofhisgrandmotherin1842,heattendedhighschoolat
theJohanneumLneburg.Inhighschool,Riemannstudiedthe
Bibleintensively,buthewasoftendistractedbymathematics.Histeacherswereamazedbyhisadeptabilityto
performcomplicatedmathematicaloperations,inwhichheoftenoutstrippedhisinstructor'sknowledge.In1846,at
theageof19,hestartedstudyingphilologyandtheologyinordertobecomeapastorandhelpwithhisfamily's
finances.
Duringthespringof1846,hisfather,aftergatheringenoughmoney,sentRiemanntotherenownedUniversityof
Gttingen,whereheplannedtostudytowardsadegreeinTheology.However,oncethere,hebeganstudying
mathematicsunderCarlFriedrichGauss(specificallyhislecturesonthemethodofleastsquares).Gauss
recommendedthatRiemanngiveuphistheologicalworkandenterthemathematicalfield(butheremaineda
devoutChristianthroughouthislife)aftergettinghisfather'sapproval,RiemanntransferredtotheUniversityof
Berlinin1847.[1]Duringhistimeofstudy,Jacobi,LejeuneDirichlet,Steiner,andEisensteinwereteaching.He
stayedinBerlinfortwoyearsandreturnedtoGttingenin1849.

Academia
Riemannheldhisfirstlecturesin1854,whichfoundedthefieldofRiemanniangeometryandtherebysetthestage
forEinstein'sgeneraltheoryofrelativity.In1857,therewasanattempttopromoteRiemanntoextraordinary
professorstatusattheUniversityofGttingen.Althoughthisattemptfailed,itdidresultinRiemannfinallybeing
grantedaregularsalary.In1859,followingLejeuneDirichlet'sdeath,hewaspromotedtoheadthemathematics
departmentatGttingen.Hewasalsothefirsttosuggestusingdimensionshigherthanmerelythreeorfourin
ordertodescribephysicalreality[2]anideathatwasultimatelyvindicatedwithEinstein'scontributionintheearly
20thcentury.In1862hemarriedEliseKochandhadadaughter.

AustroPrussianWaranddeathinItaly
RiemannfledGttingenwhenthearmiesofHanoverandPrussiaclashedtherein1866.[3]Hediedoftuberculosis
duringhisthirdjourneytoItalyinSelasca(nowahamletofVerbaniaonLakeMaggiore)wherehewasburiedin
thecemeteryinBiganzolo(Verbania).RiemannwasadedicatedChristian,thesonofaProtestantminister,and
sawhislifeasamathematicianasanotherwaytoserveGod.Duringhislife,heheldcloselytohisChristianfaith
andconsideredittobethemostimportantaspectofhislife.Atthetimeofhisdeath,hewasrecitingtheLords
Prayerwithhiswifeanddiedbeforetheyfinishedsayingtheprayer.[4]Meanwhile,inGttingenhishousekeeper
discardedsomeofthepapersinhisoffice,includingmuchunpublishedwork.Riemannrefusedtopublish
incompleteworkandsomedeepinsightsmayhavebeenlostforever.[3]
Riemann'stombstoneinBiganzolo(Italy)referstoRomans8:28("Andweknowthatallthingsworktogetherfor
goodtothemthatloveGod,tothemwhoarethecalledaccordingtohispurpose"):
HererestsinGodGeorgFriedrichBernhardRiemann
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ProfessorinGttingen
borninBreselenz,17September1826
diedinSelasca,20July1866
Those,wholoveGod,allthingsmustservetoitsbestmanner.[5]

Riemanniangeometry
Riemann'spublishedworksopenedupresearchareascombininganalysis
withgeometry.Thesewouldsubsequentlybecomemajorpartsofthe
theoriesofRiemanniangeometry,algebraicgeometry,andcomplex
manifoldtheory.ThetheoryofRiemannsurfaceswaselaboratedbyFelix
KleinandparticularlyAdolfHurwitz.Thisareaofmathematicsispartof
thefoundationoftopologyandisstillbeingappliedinnovelwaysto
mathematicalphysics.

Riemann'stombstoneinBiganzolo

In1853,GaussaskedhisstudentRiemanntoprepareaHabilitationsschrift
onthefoundationsofgeometry.Overmanymonths,Riemanndevelopedhistheoryofhigherdimensionsand
deliveredhislectureatGttingenin1854entitled"UeberdieHypothesenwelchederGeometriezuGrundeliegen
(http://www.deutschestextarchiv.de/book/view/riemann_hypothesen_1867?p=7)"("Onthehypotheseswhich
underliegeometry(http://www.emis.de/classics/Riemann/WKCGeom.pdf)").Itwasonlypublishedtwelveyears
laterin1868byDedekind,twoyearsafterhisdeath.Itsearlyreceptionappearstohavebeenslowbutitisnow
recognizedasoneofthemostimportantworksingeometry.
ThesubjectfoundedbythisworkisRiemanniangeometry.Riemannfoundthecorrectwaytoextendinton
dimensionsthedifferentialgeometryofsurfaces,whichGausshimselfprovedinhistheoremaegregium.The
fundamentalobjectiscalledtheRiemanncurvaturetensor.Forthesurfacecase,thiscanbereducedtoanumber
(scalar),positive,negative,orzerothenonzeroandconstantcasesbeingmodelsoftheknownnonEuclidean
geometries.
Riemann'sideawastointroduceacollectionofnumbersateverypointinspace(i.e.,atensor)whichwould
describehowmuchitwasbentorcurved.Riemannfoundthatinfourspatialdimensions,oneneedsacollectionof
tennumbersateachpointtodescribethepropertiesofamanifold,nomatterhowdistorteditis.Thisisthefamous
constructioncentraltohisgeometry,knownnowasaRiemannianmetric.

Complexanalysis
Inhisdissertation,heestablishedageometricfoundationforcomplexanalysisthroughRiemannsurfaces,through
whichmultivaluedfunctionslikethelogarithm(withinfinitelymanysheets)orthesquareroot(withtwosheets)
couldbecomeonetoonefunctions.Complexfunctionsareharmonicfunctions(thatis,theysatisfyLaplace's
equationandthustheCauchyRiemannequations)onthesesurfacesandaredescribedbythelocationoftheir
singularitiesandthetopologyofthesurfaces.Thetopological"genus"oftheRiemannsurfacesisgivenby
,wherethesurfacehas leavescomingtogetherat branchpoints.For
theRiemann
surfacehas
parameters(the"moduli").
Hiscontributionstothisareaarenumerous.ThefamousRiemannmappingtheoremsaysthatasimplyconnected
domaininthecomplexplaneis"biholomorphicallyequivalent"(i.e.thereisabijectionbetweenthemthatis
holomorphicwithaholomorphicinverse)toeither ortotheinterioroftheunitcircle.Thegeneralizationofthe
theoremtoRiemannsurfacesisthefamousuniformizationtheorem,whichwasprovedinthe19thcenturyby
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HenriPoincarandFelixKlein.Here,too,rigorousproofswerefirstgivenafterthedevelopmentofricher
mathematicaltools(inthiscase,topology).FortheproofoftheexistenceoffunctionsonRiemannsurfaceshe
usedaminimalitycondition,whichhecalledtheDirichletprinciple.Weierstrassfoundaholeintheproof:
Riemannhadnotnoticedthathisworkingassumption(thattheminimumexisted)mightnotworkthefunction
spacemightnotbecomplete,andthereforetheexistenceofaminimumwasnotguaranteed.Throughtheworkof
DavidHilbertintheCalculusofVariations,theDirichletprinciplewasfinallyestablished.Otherwise,Weierstrass
wasveryimpressedwithRiemann,especiallywithhistheoryofabelianfunctions.WhenRiemann'swork
appeared,WeierstrasswithdrewhispaperfromCrelleanddidnotpublishit.Theyhadagoodunderstandingwhen
RiemannvisitedhiminBerlinin1859.WeierstrassencouragedhisstudentHermannAmandusSchwarztofind
alternativestotheDirichletprincipleincomplexanalysis,inwhichhewassuccessful.AnanecdotefromArnold
Sommerfeld[6]showsthedifficultieswhichcontemporarymathematicianshadwithRiemann'snewideas.In1870,
WeierstrasshadtakenRiemann'sdissertationwithhimonaholidaytoRigiandcomplainedthatitwashardto
understand.ThephysicistHermannvonHelmholtzassistedhimintheworkovernightandreturnedwiththe
commentthatitwas"natural"and"veryunderstandable".
OtherhighlightsincludehisworkonabelianfunctionsandthetafunctionsonRiemannsurfaces.Riemannhad
beeninacompetitionwithWeierstrasssince1857tosolvetheJacobianinverseproblemsforabelianintegrals,a
generalizationofellipticintegrals.Riemannusedthetafunctionsinseveralvariablesandreducedtheproblemto
thedeterminationofthezerosofthesethetafunctions.Riemannalsoinvestigatedperiodmatricesand
characterizedthemthroughthe"Riemannianperiodrelations"(symmetric,realpartnegative).ByFrobeniusand
Lefschetzthevalidityofthisrelationisequivalentwiththeembeddingof
(where isthelatticeofthe
periodmatrix)inaprojectivespacebymeansofthetafunctions.Forcertainvaluesof ,thisistheJacobian
varietyoftheRiemannsurface,anexampleofanabelianmanifold.
ManymathematicianssuchasAlfredClebschfurtheredRiemann'sworkonalgebraiccurves.Thesetheories
dependedonthepropertiesofafunctiondefinedonRiemannsurfaces.Forexample,theRiemannRochtheorem
(RochwasastudentofRiemann)sayssomethingaboutthenumberoflinearlyindependentdifferentials(with
knownconditionsonthezerosandpoles)ofaRiemannsurface.
AccordingtoLaugwitz,[7]automorphicfunctionsappearedforthefirsttimeinanessayabouttheLaplaceequation
onelectricallychargedcylinders.Riemannhoweverusedsuchfunctionsforconformalmaps(suchasmapping
topologicaltrianglestothecircle)inhis1859lectureonhypergeometricfunctionsorinhistreatiseonminimal
surfaces.

Realanalysis
Inthefieldofrealanalysis,hediscoveredtheRiemannintegralinhishabilitation.Amongotherthings,heshowed
thateverypiecewisecontinuousfunctionisintegrable.Similarly,theStieltjesintegralgoesbacktotheGttinger
mathematician,andsotheyarenamedtogethertheRiemannStieltjesintegral.
InhishabilitationworkonFourierseries,wherehefollowedtheworkofhisteacherDirichlet,heshowedthat
Riemannintegrablefunctionsare"representable"byFourierseries.Dirichlethasshownthisforcontinuous,
piecewisedifferentiablefunctions(thuswithcountablymanynondifferentiablepoints).Riemanngaveanexample
ofaFourierseriesrepresentingacontinuous,almostnowheredifferentiablefunction,acasenotcoveredby
Dirichlet.HealsoprovedtheRiemannLebesguelemma:ifafunctionisrepresentablebyaFourierseries,thenthe
Fouriercoefficientsgotozeroforlargen.
Riemann'sessaywasalsothestartingpointforGeorgCantor'sworkwithFourierseries,whichwastheimpetusfor
settheory.

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Healsoworkedwithhypergeometricdifferentialequationsin1857usingcomplexanalyticalmethodsand
presentedthesolutionsthroughthebehaviorofclosedpathsaboutsingularities(describedbythemonodromy
matrix).Theproofoftheexistenceofsuchdifferentialequationsbypreviouslyknownmonodromymatricesisone
oftheHilbertproblems.

Numbertheory
Hemadesomefamouscontributionstomodernanalyticnumbertheory.Inasingleshortpaper,theonlyonehe
publishedonthesubjectofnumbertheory,heinvestigatedthezetafunctionthatnowbearshisname,establishing
itsimportanceforunderstandingthedistributionofprimenumbers.TheRiemannhypothesiswasoneofaseriesof
conjectureshemadeaboutthefunction'sproperties.
InRiemann'sworktherearemanymoreinterestingdevelopments.Heprovedthefunctionalequationforthezeta
function(alreadyknowntoEuler),behindwhichathetafunctionlies.Also,itgivesabetterapproximationforthe
primecountingfunction
thanGauss'sfunction
.Throughthesummationofthisapproximationfunction
overthenontrivialzerosonthelinewithrealportion1/2,hegaveanexact,"explicitformula"for
.
RiemannknewChebyshev'sworkonthePrimeNumberTheorem.HehadvisitedDirichletin1852.ButRiemann's
methodswereverydifferent.

Writings
1868Onthehypotheseswhichlieatthefoundationofgeometry,translatedbyW.K.Clifford,Nature81873
183reprintedinClifford'sCollectedMathematicalPapers,London1882(MacMillan)NewYork1968
(Chelsea)http://www.emis.de/classics/Riemann/.AlsoinEwald,WilliamB.,ed.,1996FromKantto
Hilbert:ASourceBookintheFoundationsofMathematics,2vols.OxfordUni.Press:65261.
1892CollectedWorksofBernhardtRiemann(H.Webered).InGerman.ReprintedNewYork1953(Dover)
Riemann,Bernhard(2004),Collectedpapers,KendrickPress,HeberCity,UT,ISBN9780974042725,
MR2121437

Seealso
ListoftopicsnamedafterBernhardRiemann
NonEuclideangeometry
Riemann's1859paperintroducingthecomplexzetafunction(Englishtitle:"OntheNumberofPrimesLess
ThanaGivenMagnitude")

References
1.Hawking,Stephen(2005).GodCreatedtheIntegers.Boston:RunningPress.pp.814815.ISBN9780762419227.
2.Werke,p.268,editionof1876,citedinPierpont,NonEuclideanGeometry,ARetrospect(http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.
bams/1183493815)
3.MarcusduSautoy,TheMusicofthePrimes,HarperCollins:2003.
4."ChristianMathematicianRiemann".Retrieved13October2014.
5."RiemannsTomb".Retrieved13October2014.
6.SommerfeldVorlesungenbertheoretischePhysik,Bd.2(MechanikdeformierbarerMedien),HarriDeutsch,S.124.
SommerfeldheardthestoryfromAachenerProfessorofExperimentalPhysicsAdolfWllner.
7.DetlefLaugwitz:BernhardRiemann18261866.Birkhuser,Basel1996,ISBN9783764351892

Furtherreading
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Derbyshire,John(2003),PrimeObsession:BernhardRiemannandtheGreatestUnsolvedProblemin
Mathematics,Washington,DC:JohnHenryPress,ISBN0309085497.
Monastyrsky,Michael(1999),Riemann,TopologyandPhysics,Boston,MA:Birkhuser,ISBN08176
37893.

Externallinks
BernhardRiemann(http://www.genealogy.ams.org/id.php?id=18232)
Wikiquotehasquotations
attheMathematicsGenealogyProject
relatedto:Bernhard
TheMathematicalPapersofGeorgFriedrichBernhardRiemann(htt
Riemann
p://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Riemann/Papers.html)
AllpublicationsofRiemanncanbefoundat:
WikimediaCommonshas
http://www.emis.de/classics/Riemann/
mediarelatedtoBernhard
O'Connor,JohnJ.Robertson,EdmundF.,"BernhardRiemann",
Riemann.
MacTutorHistoryofMathematicsarchive,UniversityofStAndrews.
BernhardRiemannoneofthemostimportantmathematicians(htt
Wikisourcehasthetextof
p://www.fhlueneburg.de/u1/gym03/englpage/chronik/riemann/riema
the1905NewInternational
nn.htm)
Encyclopediaarticle
BernhardRiemann'sinaugurallecture(http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/
Riemann,GeorgFriedrich
HistMath/People/Riemann/Geom/)
Bernhard.
Weisstein,EricW.,Riemann,Bernhard(18261866)(http://sciencew
orld.wolfram.com/biography/Riemann.html)fromScienceWorld.
BernhardRiemann(http://www.findagrave.com/cgibin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12090715)atFindaGrave
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernhard_Riemann&oldid=722818283"
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