mathematics

Leifur Ásgeirsson

Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson rather than just read about it. In short: Leifur Ásgeirsson (25 May 1903 – 19 August 1990) was the first Icelandic mathematician to gain major international recognition. Education and career Leifur Ásgeirsson graduated in 1927 from Reykjavik Junior College and received his doctorate in 1933 from the University of Göttingen.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Leifur Ásgeirsson (25 May 1903 – 19 August 1990) was the first Icelandic mathematician to gain major international recognition.

Education and career Leifur Ásgeirsson graduated in 1927 from Reykjavik Junior College and received his doctorate in 1933 from the University of Göttingen. His doctoral advisor was Richard Courant. From 1931 to 1943 Leifur Ásgeirsson was the head of a district school in Laugar, located in southwestern Iceland's Reykjadalur Valley east of Reykjavík. In 1936 he was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Oslo. At the University of Iceland he was appointed in 1943 a lecturer in mathematics and in 1945 a full professor of mathematics. The journal Mathematica Scandinavica was founded in 1953 with Ásgeirsson as one of the founding editors.

... Mathematica Scandinavica ... editors were appointed. From Denmark: Fenchel, from Finland: Gustav Elfving, from Iceland: Leifur Ásgeirsson, from Norway: Skolem, and from Sweden: Pleijel. Immediately after the decisions had been taken Fenchel, in agreement with Pleijel, wrote to the other editors and suggested Bundgaard as co-ordinating editor of Math. Scand.

Selected publications Ásgeirsson, Leifur (1937). "Über eine Mittelwertseigenschaft von Lösungen homogener linearer partieller Differentialgleichungen 2. Ordnung mit konstanten Koeffizienten". Mathematische Annalen. 113 (1): 321–346. doi:10.1007/BF01571637. ISSN 0025-5831. S2CID 122332213. —— (1956). "Some hints on Huygens' principle and Hadamard's conjecture". Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics. 9 (3): 307–326. doi:10.1002/cpa.3160090304. —— (1961). "On Cauchy's problem for linear partial differential equations of second order in four variables". Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics. 14 (3): 171–186. doi:10.1002/cpa.3160140302.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Leifur Ásgeirsson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson

In research: Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson 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: Leifur Ásgeirsson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1903 births, 1990 deaths, 20th-century Icelandic people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Leifur Ásgeirsson 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.

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How to study Leifur Ásgeirsson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Leifur Ásgeirsson in simple terms?

Leifur Ásgeirsson (25 May 1903 – 19 August 1990) was the first Icelandic mathematician to gain major international recognition. Education and career Leifur Ásgeirsson graduated in 1927 from Reykjavik Junior College and received his doctorate in 1933 from the University of Göttingen.

Why does Leifur Ásgeirsson 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 Leifur Ásgeirsson?

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 Leifur Ásgeirsson.