Victor Anatolyevich Vassiliev or Vasilyev ( ru , Виктор Анатольевич Васильев; born April 10, 1956), is a Soviet and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. He is best known for his discovery of the Vassiliev invariants in knot theory (also known as finite type invariants), which subsume many previously discovered polynomial

knot invariant In the mathematical field of knot theory, a knot invariant is a quantity (in a broad sense) defined for each knot which is the same for equivalent knots. The equivalence is often given by ambient isotopy but can be given by homeomorphism. Some ...

s such as the

Jones polynomial In the mathematical field of knot theory, the Jones polynomial is a knot polynomial discovered by Vaughan Jones in 1984. Specifically, it is an invariant of an oriented knot or link which assigns to each oriented knot or link a Laurent polynomi ...

. He also works on

singularity theory In mathematics, singularity theory studies spaces that are almost manifolds, but not quite. A string can serve as an example of a one-dimensional manifold, if one neglects its thickness. A singularity can be made by balling it up, dropping it ...

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...

computational complexity theory In theoretical computer science and mathematics, computational complexity theory focuses on classifying computational problems according to their resource usage, and relating these classes to each other. A computational problem is a task solved ...

integral geometry In mathematics, integral geometry is the theory of measures on a geometrical space invariant under the symmetry group of that space. In more recent times, the meaning has been broadened to include a view of invariant (or equivariant) transformati ...

, symplectic geometry, partial differential equations (geometry of wavefronts), complex analysis, combinatorics, and

Picard–Lefschetz theory In mathematics, Picard–Lefschetz theory studies the topology of a complex manifold by looking at the critical points of a holomorphic function on the manifold. It was introduced by Émile Picard for complex surfaces in his book , and extended to ...

Biography

Vassiliev studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics at the Lomonosov University in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

until 1981. From 1981 to 1987 he was Senior Researcher at the Documents and Archives Research Institute, Moscow and a part-time mathematics teacher at

Specialized Mathematical School Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

No. 57, Moscow. In 1982 he defended his

Kandidat nauk Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "d ...

thesis under

Vladimir Arnold Vladimir Igorevich Arnold (alternative spelling Arnol'd, russian: link=no, Влади́мир И́горевич Арно́льд, 12 June 1937 – 3 June 2010) was a Soviet and Russian mathematician. While he is best known for the Kolmogorov– ...

and received the title of

Doktor nauk Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...

in 1992. From 1987 to 1989 he was Senior Researcher at the Statistical Information Systems Research Institute in Moscow. From 1989 to 1990 he was Senior Researcher at the Department of Functional Analysis in the

Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics The Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (russian: Институт прикладной математики им. М.В.Келдыша) is a research institute specializing in computational mathematics. It was established to solve computati ...

in Moscow. From 1990 to 1995 he was

Leading Researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

at the Department of Mathematics in the

Research Institute for System Studies Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

in Moscow. Since 1991 he has been professor at the Mathematics College of the

Independent Moscow University The Independent University of Moscow (IUM) (russian: Независимый Московский Университет (НМУ)) is an educational organisation with rather informal status located in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1991 by a gro ...

. Since 1997 he has been

Principal Researcher Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

in the Department of Geometry and Topology at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics in Moscow. Since 2009 he has been professor and department chair in Higher School of Economics - Faculty of Mathematics, HSE,. Since 2019 his is a member and first chairperson of the Russian Academy of Science's Commission against falsification of scientific research. He has been a visiting professor at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

VII, and at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He was a visiting fellow commoner at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

in October–December 2000. Vasilyev has been a member of the

Russian Academy of Science The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

since 2003 (corresponding member since 1997). He is vice-chief editor of the Journal ''Functional Analysis and its Applications'', and the president of the Moscow Mathematical Society. In 1994 he was an invited speaker at the International Mathematical Congress in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

(Plenary Address). In 1986 he received the Moscow Mathematical Society Award. On 21 February 2014 he together with other protesters against Bolotnaya Square case was arrested near Zamoskvoretsky Court in Moscow. On 5 March 2014 he among the other protesters was sentenced by Zamoskvoretsky Court to 10 thousand roubles (~ $150 US) fine for "resisting police". The European Parliament issued resolutions 2013/2667(RSP) of June 13, 2013 and resolution 2014/2628(RSP) of March 13, 2014 on the political nature of the Bolotnaya Square case. Prisoners of the case were recognized as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International...Most of the people accused in the Bolotnaya square case then were amnestied in December 2013 due to the public pressure both at home and abroad in support of the political prisoners. Vassiliev is married, with three children.

References

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External links

* . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilyev, Victor Anatolyevich 1956 births 20th-century Russian mathematicians 21st-century Russian mathematicians Combinatorialists Topologists Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Living people Higher School of Economics faculty Independent University of Moscow faculty Moscow State University alumni