mathematics

Mark Kisin

Mark Kisin 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 Mark Kisin rather than just read about it. In short: Mark Kisin is a mathematician known for work in algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry. In particular, he is known for his contributions to the study of p-adic representations and p-adic cohomology.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Mark Kisin is a mathematician known for work in algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry. In particular, he is known for his contributions to the study of p-adic representations and p-adic cohomology. Born in Vilnius, Lithuania and raised from the age of five in Melbourne, Australia, he won a silver medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1989 and received his B.Sc. from Monash University in 1991. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1998 under the direction of Nick Katz. From 1998 to 2001 he was a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, after which he spent three years at the University of Münster. After six years at the University of Chicago, Kisin took the post in 2009 of professor of mathematics at Harvard University. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008. He gave an invited talk at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2010, on the topic of "Number Theory". In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022.

References

External links Mark Kisin at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mark Kisin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mark Kisin 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 Mark Kisin 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 Mark Kisin 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 Mark Kisin

In research: Mark Kisin 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 Mark Kisin 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: Mark Kisin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1971 births, 20th-century American mathematicians, 21st-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mark Kisin 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.

Affiliate

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

How to study Mark Kisin in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Mark Kisin in simple terms?

Why does Mark Kisin 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 Mark Kisin?

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 Mark Kisin.