Lev Schnirelmann

Lev G. Schnirelmann
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Born	(1905-01-02)January 2, 1905 Gomel, Russian Empire
Died	Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Nationality	Russian
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Steklov Mathematical Institute
Alma mater	Moscow State University
Doctoral advisor	Nikolai Luzin
Known for	Schnirelmann density Schnirelmann's constant Schnirelmann's theorem

Lev Genrikhovich Schnirelmann (also Shnirelman, Shnirel'man; Лев Ге́нрихович Шнирельма́н; January 2, 1905 – September 24, 1938) was a Soviet mathematician who worked on number theory, topology and differential geometry.

He sought to prove Goldbach's conjecture. In 1930, using the Brun sieve, he proved that any natural number greater than 1 can be written as the sum of not more than C prime numbers, where C is an effectively computable constant.

His other fundamental work is joint with Lazar Lyusternik. Together, they developed the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category, as it is called now, based on the previous work by Henri Poincaré, David Birkhoff, and Marston Morse. The theory gives a global invariant of spaces, and has led to advances in differential geometry and topology. They also proved the theorem of the three geodesics, that a Riemannian manifold topologically equivalent to a sphere has at least three simple closed geodesics.

Schnirelmann graduated from Moscow State University (1925) and then worked in Steklov Mathematical Institute (1934–1938). His advisor was Nikolai Luzin.

According to Pontryagin's memoir, Schnirelmann committed suicide in Moscow.

See also

• Inscribed square problem
• Schnirelmann density
• Schnirelmann's constant
• Schnirelmann's theorem

External links

• Lev Schnirelmann at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• .
• Lev Genrihovich Schnirelmann, a popular article by V. Tikhomirov and V. Uspensky (Russian)