mathematics

Günter M. Ziegler

Günter M. Ziegler is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Günter M. Ziegler rather than just read about it. In short: Günter Matthias Ziegler (born 19 May 1963) is a German mathematician who has been working as president of the Free University of Berlin since 2018. Ziegler is known for his research in discrete mathematics and geometry, and particularly on the combinatorics of polytopes.

Key takeaways

Günter M. Ziegler belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Günter M. Ziegler to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Günter M. Ziegler from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Günter Matthias Ziegler (born 19 May 1963) is a German mathematician who has been working as president of the Free University of Berlin since 2018. Ziegler is known for his research in discrete mathematics and geometry, and particularly on the combinatorics of polytopes.

Biography Ziegler studied at LMU Munich from 1981 to 1984, and went on to receive his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1987, under the supervision of Anders Björner. After postdoctoral positions at the University of Augsburg and the Mittag-Leffler Institute, he received his habilitation in 1992 from Technische Universität Berlin, which he joined as a professor in 1995. Ziegler has since joined the faculty of the Free University of Berlin.

Awards and honors Ziegler was awarded the one million Deutschmark Gerhard Hess Prize by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in 1994 and the 1.5 million Deutschmark Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany's highest research honor, by the DFG in 2001. He was awarded the 2005 Gauss Lectureship by the German Mathematical Society. In 2006, the Mathematical Association of America awarded Ziegler and Florian Pfender its highest honor for mathematical exposition, the Chauvenet Prize, for their paper on kissing numbers. In 2006 Ziegler became president of the German Mathematical Society for a two-year term. In 2009, the European Research Council (ERC) awarded Ziegler one of the ERC Advanced Grants in the amount of 1.85 million Euros. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. In 2013, Ziegler was granted the Hector Science Award and became a member of the Hector Fellow Academy. Since 2016, Ziegler has been chair of the Berlin Mathematical School. In 2018, he received the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition (jointly with Martin Aigner) for Proofs from THE BOOK.

Other activities Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2020) German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), member of the board of trustees (since 2018) Genshagener Kreis, member of the board of trustees (since 2018) Einstein Foundation Berlin, Member of the Council Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), member of the supervisory board Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), member of the board of trustees (since 2018) Klaus Tschira Foundation, member of the board of trustees (since 2017) Urania, Member of the Board

Selected publications Aigner, Martin; Ziegler, Günter M. (1998), Proofs from THE BOOK, Berlin: Springer, ISBN 3-540-63698-6; 6th ed, 2018. Ziegler, Günter M. (1995), Lectures on Polytopes, Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 152, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag. Björner, Anders; Ziegler, Günter M. (1992), "Introduction to greedoids", in White, Neil (ed.), Matroid Applications, Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications, vol. 40, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 284–357, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511662041.009, ISBN 0-521-38165-7, MR 1165537

References

Further reading Drösser, Christoph (September 13, 2007), "Ein etwas anderer Streber", Die Zeit. Article in German about Ziegler.

External links Ziegler's homepage at the Free University Günter M. Ziegler in the German National Library catalogue Günter M. Ziegler at the Mathematics Genealogy Project Günter M. Ziegler publications indexed by Google Scholar

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Günter M. Ziegler

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Günter M. Ziegler claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Günter M. Ziegler before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Günter M. Ziegler ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Günter M. Ziegler

In research: Günter M. Ziegler appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Günter M. Ziegler in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Günter M. Ziegler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1963 births, 20th-century German mathematicians, 21st-century German mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Günter M. Ziegler outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Günter M. Ziegler” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Günter M. Ziegler in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Günter M. Ziegler means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Günter M. Ziegler out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Günter M. Ziegler in simple terms?

Why does Günter M. Ziegler matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Günter M. Ziegler?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Günter M. Ziegler.