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Atle Selberg
Mathematician

Atle Selberg

Famoose for

The Selberg sieve and advances in analytic number theory.

Selberg sieve · Prime number theory

Born
14 June 1917
Birthplace
Langesund, Norway
Died
6 August 2007

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Marie CurieDiscovering polonium and radium.Albert EinsteinDeveloping the theory of relativity.Charles DarwinExplaining evolution through natural selection.

Atle Selberg

Norwegian mathematician awarded the 1950 Fields Medal.

Early life

Norway

Grew up in a mathematically active family and completed his Oslo doctorate in 1943.

Career

  1. 1940s

    Wartime research

    Worked largely in isolation during Norway’s occupation.

  2. 1947

    Sieve method

    Introduced the Selberg sieve.

  3. 1950

    Fields Medal

    Received mathematics’ international honour.

Contributions

Selberg sieve

Developed a powerful tool for bounding number-theoretic quantities.

Prime number theory

Produced elementary methods for studying prime distribution.

Beyond work

Wartime service

Resisted the German invasion of Norway and was imprisoned during the occupation.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen. CC BY-SA 2.0 de · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.