mathematics

Peter Bürgisser

Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Bürgisser (born 1962) is a Swiss mathematician and theoretical computer scientist who deals with algorithmic algebra and algebraic complexity theory. Education and career Bürgisser received in 1990 his doctorate from the University of Konstanz with thesis Degenerationsordnung und Trägerfunktional bilinearer Abbildungen under the supervision of Volker Strassen.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Peter Bürgisser (born 1962) is a Swiss mathematician and theoretical computer scientist who deals with algorithmic algebra and algebraic complexity theory.

Education and career Bürgisser received in 1990 his doctorate from the University of Konstanz with thesis Degenerationsordnung und Trägerfunktional bilinearer Abbildungen under the supervision of Volker Strassen. Bürgisser was a postdoc at the University of Bonn from 1991 to 1993 and then at the University of Zürich. He was a professor at the University of Paderborn and since 2013 a professor at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). His research deals with efficient algorithms for the solution of algebraic problems and lower bounds in the complexity of algebraic problems, as well as with symbolic and numerical algorithms and the probabilistic analysis of numerical algorithms. With Felipe Cucker in 2011 he contributed to the solution of Smale's Problem No. 17. Bürgisser was a visiting scholar at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing in Berkeley. He was also a visiting scholar at ETH Zurich. In 2010, he was an invited speaker with talk Smoothed Analysis of Condition Numbers at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad. He was a plenary speaker at the 2008 conference of the organization Foundations of Computational Mathematics (FoCM) in Hong Kong and organized workshops on complexity theory at the 2005, 2008 and 2011 workshops and in the 2009 and 2012 Oberwolfach workshops. He was elected a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012. He is a member of the editorial staff of Foundations of Computational Mathematics. In 2018 he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant.

Further Activities In Bürgisser`s youth, he acted in four short-films by his school-mate Roger Steinmann as lead-actor. 'Die Flutkatastrophe' and 'Die Türe' were aired in the Swiss national TV DRS, the latter accompanied with an interview by Bürgisser.

Selected publications with Cucker, Felipe (2013). Condition – The Geometry of Numerical Algorithms. Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften. Vol. 349. Springer Berlin, Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-38896-5. ISBN 978-3-642-38895-8. Bürgisser, Peter (2000). Completeness and Reduction in Algebraic Complexity Theory. Algorithms and Computation in Mathematics. Vol. 7. Springer Berlin, Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-04179-6. ISBN 978-3-540-66752-0. with Michael Clausen and Amin Shokrollahi: Algebraic Complexity Theory, Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften 315, Springer 1997

References

External links Peter Bürgisser publications indexed by Google Scholar Official website "Peter Bürgisser: Condition: The geometry of numerical algorithms - Lecture 1". YouTube. 10 February 2017. "Peter Bürgisser: Condition: The geometry of numerical algorithms - Lecture 2". YouTube. 3 February 2017.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Bürgisser

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser

In research: Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser 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: Peter Bürgisser is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1962 births, 20th-century German mathematicians, 21st-century German mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Bürgisser in simple terms?

Peter Bürgisser (born 1962) is a Swiss mathematician and theoretical computer scientist who deals with algorithmic algebra and algebraic complexity theory. Education and career Bürgisser received in 1990 his doctorate from the University of Konstanz with thesis Degenerationsordnung und Trägerfunkti…

Why does Peter Bürgisser 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 Peter Bürgisser?

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 Peter Bürgisser.