mathematics

Percy Deift

Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift rather than just read about it. In short: Percy Alec Deift (born September 10, 1945) is a mathematician known for his work on spectral theory, integrable systems, random matrix theory and Riemann–Hilbert problems. Life Deift was born in Durban, South Africa, where he obtained degrees in chemical engineering, physics, and mathematics, and received a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Princeton University in 1977.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Percy Alec Deift (born September 10, 1945) is a mathematician known for his work on spectral theory, integrable systems, random matrix theory and Riemann–Hilbert problems.

Life Deift was born in Durban, South Africa, where he obtained degrees in chemical engineering, physics, and mathematics, and received a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Princeton University in 1977. He is a Silver Professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University.

Honors and awards Deift is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society (elected 2012), a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected 2003), and of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (elected 2009). He is a co-winner of the 1998 Pólya Prize, and was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 1999. He gave an invited address at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Berlin in 1998 and plenary addresses in 2006 at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid and at the International Congress on Mathematical Physics in Rio de Janeiro. Deift gave the Gibbs Lecture at the Joint Meeting of the American Mathematical Society in 2009. Along with Michael Aizenman and Giovanni Gallavotti, he won the Henri Poincaré Prize in 2018.

Selected works with Eugene Trubowitz: Inverse scattering on the line, Communications on pure and applied Mathematics, vol. 32, 1979, pp. 121–251 doi:10.1002/cpa.3160320202 with Fernando Lund, E. Trubowitz: Deift, P; Lund, F; Trubowitz, E (February 1980). "Nonlinear wave equations and constrained harmonic motion" (PDF). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 77 (2): 716–719. Bibcode:1980PNAS...77..716D. doi:10.1073/pnas.77.2.716. PMC 348351. PMID 16592777. with Richard Beals, Carlos Tomei: Direct and inverse scattering on the line, AMS, 1988 with Luen-Chau Li, C. Tomei: Loop groups, discrete versions of some classical integrable systems, and rank 2 extensions, AMS, 1992 with K. T-R McLaughlin: A continuum limit of the Toda lattice, AMS, 1998 Orthogonal polynomials and random matrices: a Riemann-Hilbert approach, AMS (American Mathematical Society), 2000 (and Courant Institute, 1999) with Dmitri Gioev: Random matrix theory: invariant embeddings and universality, AMS, 2009 with Jinho Baik and Toufic Suidan Combinatorics and Random Matrix Theory. American Mathematical Society. 22 June 2016. ISBN 978-0-8218-4841-8.

See also Riemann–Hilbert problems random matrix theory integrable systems

References

External links Percy Deift personal webpage, Courant Institute, New York University Percy Alec Deift, Mathematics Genealogy Project

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Percy Deift

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift

In research: Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift 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: Percy Deift is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1945 births, 20th-century American mathematicians, 21st-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Percy Deift in simple terms?

Percy Alec Deift (born September 10, 1945) is a mathematician known for his work on spectral theory, integrable systems, random matrix theory and Riemann–Hilbert problems. Life Deift was born in Durban, South Africa, where he obtained degrees in chemical engineering, physics, and mathematics, and r…

Why does Percy Deift 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 Percy Deift?

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 Percy Deift.