astronomy

Roger C. Alperin

Roger C. Alperin is a astronomy 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 Roger C. Alperin rather than just read about it. In short: Roger Charles Alperin (January 8, 1947 – November 21, 2019) was an American mathematician, best known for his work in group theory, including its connections with geometry and topology. He was a professor at the University of Oklahoma and at San Jose State University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Roger Charles Alperin (January 8, 1947 – November 21, 2019) was an American mathematician, best known for his work in group theory, including its connections with geometry and topology. He was a professor at the University of Oklahoma and at San Jose State University.

Education and career Alperin was born on January 8, 1947, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago, and his PhD from Rice University in 1973. His thesis was supervised by Stephen M. Gersten, and was titled Whitehead Torsion of Finite Abelian Groups. After temporary positions at Brown University, Haverford College, and Washington University in St. Louis, Alperin took a permanent position at the University of Oklahoma in 1978. He was eventually promoted to full professor at the University of Oklahoma, but resigned his position to move to California in 1987. Upon moving to California, he found a position at San Jose State University, which he held until his retirement in 2015. Alperin died on November 21, 2019, at his home in Carlsbad, California.

Research Alperin's work on real trees in the 80s (partly joint with Hyman Bass and Kenneth Moss) helped to stimulate interest in these objects, and helped establish them as a basic tool in geometric group theory. Alperin has also done foundational work on the mathematical theory of origami.

References

External links Roger C. Alperin publications indexed by Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roger C. Alperin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roger C. Alperin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, 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 Roger C. Alperin 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 Roger C. Alperin 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 Roger C. Alperin

In research: Roger C. Alperin appears in astronomy 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 Roger C. Alperin 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: Roger C. Alperin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, 2019 deaths, 20th-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roger C. Alperin 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Roger C. Alperin” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Roger C. Alperin in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Roger C. Alperin in simple terms?

Why does Roger C. Alperin matter?

Because it connects several astronomy 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 Roger C. Alperin?

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 Roger C. Alperin.