mathematics

Max Gunzburger

Max Gunzburger 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 Max Gunzburger rather than just read about it. In short: Max D. Gunzburger, Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Florida State University, is an American mathematician and computational scientist affiliated with the Florida State interdisciplinary Department of Scientific Computing.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Max D. Gunzburger, Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Florida State University, is an American mathematician and computational scientist affiliated with the Florida State interdisciplinary Department of Scientific Computing. He was the 2008 winner of the SIAM W.T. and Idalia Reid Prize in Mathematics. His seminal research contributions include flow control, finite element analysis, superconductivity and Voronoi tessellations. He has also made contributions in the areas of aerodynamics, materials, acoustics, climate change, groundwater, image processing and risk assessment.

Ph.D. After completing his BS degree at New York University in 1966, Gunzburger earned his Ph.D. degree from the same University in 1969. His thesis, titled Diffraction of shock waves by a thin wing—Symmetric and anti-symmetric problems, was written under the direction of Lu Ting.

Early career Gunzburger began his career at New York University as a research scientist and assistant professor of mathematics, a position he held from receiving his Ph.D. until 1971. He then spent two years working as a post-doctorate at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory before transferring to the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering at NASA until 1976. He then became an associate professor and professor of mathematics at the University of Tennessee, a position he held from 1976 to 1982. Transferring again, he moved from Carnegie Mellon University in 1981 to 1989, to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from 1987 to 1997. In 1989 he completed his influential first book, "Finite Element Methods for Viscous Incompressible Flows: A Guide to Theory, Practice and Algorithms," ISBN 978-0-12-307350-1, which according to Google scholar has over 400 citations as of March 2009 [1] .

Distinguished professorship In 1995, Gunzburger took a position with Iowa State University as professor and chair of mathematics. In 2001, he was awarded distinguished professor of mathematics. At Iowa State he wrote three other books. Gunzburger came to the Florida State University in 2002. As an Eppes professor, Gunzburger is among the university's most distinguished scholars. He currently serves as the chair of the Department of Scientific Computing.

SIAM Gunzburger served as editor-in-chief of the SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis from 2000 to 2007. He also served as the chairman of the board of trustees in 2003 and has held various other SIAM positions

Awards and honors In 2007, issues 3–4 in volume 4 of the "International Journal of Numerical Analysis and Modeling" were dedicated to Gunzburger to honor the occasion of his 60th birthday. In 2008, Gunzburger was awarded the W.T. and Idalia Reid Prize in Mathematics, an award given for "research in, or other contributions to, the broadly defined areas of differential equations and control theory." The award was given based on "fundamental contributions to control of distributed parameter systems and computational mathematics." Gunzbuger was elected a fellow of SIAM on May 1, 2009 for "contributions to control of fluids and scientific computing."

Publications As of March 2009, Gunzburger has published 153 peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals (162 according to MathSciNet). Three of the most highly cited are

Qiang Du, Max Gunzburger, and Janet S. Peterson, "Analysis and approximation of the Ginzburg-Landau model of superconductivity", SIAM Review 34 (1992), no 1, 54–81. MR 1156289 Qiang Du, Vance Faber, and Max Gunzburger, "Centroidal Voronoi tessellations: Applications and algorithms", SIAM Review 41 (1999), no. 4, pp. 637–676. MR 1722997 Pavel B. Bochev and Max Gunzburger, "Finite element methods of least-squares type", SIAM Review 40 (1998), no. 4, 789–837. MR 1659689

Students and Post-Doctorates As of March 2009, 29 students had completed their Ph.D. degrees under Gunzburger's supervision. He had also supported 11 post-doctorates.

External links Max Gunzburger at the Mathematics Genealogy Project Florida State University faculty profile

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Max Gunzburger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Max Gunzburger 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 Max Gunzburger 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 Max Gunzburger 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 Max Gunzburger

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

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Max Gunzburger in simple terms?

Why does Max Gunzburger 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 Max Gunzburger?

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 Max Gunzburger.