mathematics

Pierre Conner

Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner rather than just read about it. In short: Pierre Euclide Conner (27 June 1932, Houston, Texas – 3 February 2018, New Orleans, Louisiana) was an American mathematician, who worked on algebraic topology and differential topology (especially cobordism theory). In 1955 Conner received his Ph.D. from Princeton University under Donald Spencer with thesis The Green's and Neumann's Problems for Differential Forms on Riemannian Manifolds.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Pierre Euclide Conner (27 June 1932, Houston, Texas – 3 February 2018, New Orleans, Louisiana) was an American mathematician, who worked on algebraic topology and differential topology (especially cobordism theory). In 1955 Conner received his Ph.D. from Princeton University under Donald Spencer with thesis The Green's and Neumann's Problems for Differential Forms on Riemannian Manifolds. He was a post-doctoral fellow from 1955 to 1957 (and again in 1961–1962) at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was in the 1960s a professor at the University of Virginia, where he collaborated with his colleague Edwin E. Floyd, and then in the 1970s a professor at Louisiana State University. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

Publications

Articles Conner, P. E. (1958). "A note on a theorem of Mostow". Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 9 (3): 467–471. doi:10.1090/s0002-9939-1958-0093560-x. MR 0093560. with E. E. Floyd: Conner, P. E.; Floyd, E. E. (1959). "On the construction of periodic maps without fixed points". Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 10 (3): 354–360. doi:10.1090/s0002-9939-1959-0105115-x. MR 0105115. with E. E. Floyd: Conner, P. E.; Floyd, E. E. (1962). "Differential periodic maps". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 68 (2): 76–86. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1962-10730-7. MR 0133834. Conner, P. E. (1963). "Pontrjagin numbers of maps". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 69 (2): 276–279. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1963-10954-4. MR 0145551.

Books with E. E. Floyd: Differentiable periodic maps, Springer, Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete, 1964, 2nd edn. 1979 with E. E. Floyd: The relation of cobordism to K-theories, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 28, 1966 Seminar on periodic maps, Springer 1966

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pierre Conner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner

In research: Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner 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: Pierre Conner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1932 births, 2018 deaths, 20th-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Pierre Conner in simple terms?

Why does Pierre Conner 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 Pierre Conner?

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 Pierre Conner.