mathematics

Paul Zimmermann (mathematician)

Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) rather than just read about it. In short: Paul Zimmermann (born 13 November 1964) is a French computational mathematician, working at INRIA. Education After engineering studies at École polytechnique 1984 to 1987, he got a master's degree in computer science in 1988 from University Paris VII and a magister from École Normale Supérieure in mathematics and computer science.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Paul Zimmermann (born 13 November 1964) is a French computational mathematician, working at INRIA.

Education After engineering studies at École polytechnique 1984 to 1987, he got a master's degree in computer science in 1988 from University Paris VII and a magister from École Normale Supérieure in mathematics and computer science. His doctoral degree from École Polytechnique in 1991 was entitled Séries génératrices et analyse automatique d’algorithmes, and advised by Philippe Flajolet.

Research His interests include asymptotically fast arithmetic. He has developed some of the fastest available code for manipulating polynomials over GF(2), and for calculating hypergeometric constants to billions of decimal places. He is associated with the CARAMEL project to develop efficient arithmetic, in a general context and in particular in the context of algebraic curves of small genus; arithmetic on polynomials of very large degree turns out to be useful in algorithms for point-counting on such curves. He is also interested in computational number theory. In particular, he has contributed to some of the record computations in integer factorisation and discrete logarithm. Zimmermann co-authored the book Computational Mathematics, published in 2018 on SageMath used by Mathematical students worldwide. In 2010, he co-authored a book on algorithms for computer arithmetic with Richard Brent. He has been an active developer of the GMP-ECM implementation of the elliptic curve method for integer factorisation and of MPFR, an arbitrary precision floating point library with correct rounding. He is also a coauthor of the CADO-NFS software tool, which was used to factor RSA-240 in record time. In a 2014 blog post, Zimmermann said that he would refuse invitations to review papers submitted to gold (author-pays) open access and hybrid open access journals, because he disagrees with the publication mechanism.

References

Flajolet, Philippe; Zimmerman, Paul; Van Cutsem, Bernard (1994). "A calculus for the random generation of labelled combinatorial structures". Theoretical Computer Science. 132 (1): 1–35. doi:10.1016/0304-3975(94)90226-7. MR 1290534.

External links http://www.loria.fr/~zimmerma/

Illustrations

Paul Zimmermann (mathematician): Paul Zimmermann, January 2006 — Paul Zimmermann, January 2006

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul Zimmermann (mathematician)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician)

In research: Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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: Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1964 births, Free software people, Free software programmers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) in simple terms?

Paul Zimmermann (born 13 November 1964) is a French computational mathematician, working at INRIA. Education After engineering studies at École polytechnique 1984 to 1987, he got a master's degree in computer science in 1988 from University Paris VII and a magister from École Normale Supérieure in…

Why does Paul Zimmermann (mathematician) 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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician)?

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 Paul Zimmermann (mathematician).