Florian Pop (born 1952 in

Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: (; or , , ) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2021, its estimated population was 52,359. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the area inhabited by "Free Dacians", away from the h ...

) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n mathematician, a professor of mathematics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. Pop received his Ph.D. in 1987 and his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1991, both from the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. He has been a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, and (from 1996 to 2003) a professor at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty. Pop's research concerns

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; th ...

arithmetic geometry In mathematics, arithmetic geometry is roughly the application of techniques from algebraic geometry to problems in number theory. Arithmetic geometry is centered around Diophantine geometry, the study of rational points of algebraic varieties. ...

anabelian geometry Anabelian geometry is a theory in number theory which describes the way in which the algebraic fundamental group ''G'' of a certain arithmetic variety ''X'', or some related geometric object, can help to recover ''X''. The first results for nu ...

, and

Galois theory In mathematics, Galois theory, originally introduced by Évariste Galois, provides a connection between field (mathematics), field theory and group theory. This connection, the fundamental theorem of Galois theory, allows reducing certain problems ...

. call his habilitation thesis, concerning the

characterization Characterization or characterisation is the representation of characters (persons, creatures, or other beings) in narrative and dramatic works. The term character development is sometimes used as a synonym. This representation may include dire ...

of certain

fields Fields may refer to: Music *Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song by ...

by their

absolute Galois group In mathematics, the absolute Galois group ''GK'' of a field ''K'' is the Galois group of ''K''sep over ''K'', where ''K''sep is a separable closure of ''K''. Alternatively it is the group of all automorphisms of the algebraic closure of ''K'' ...

s, a "milestone". In 1996, Pop was awarded the Gay-Lussac–von Humboldt Prize for Mathematics, and in 2003 he was awarded the Romanian Order of Merit, Commander rank. In 2012 he became a fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

.List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 2013-05-26.

References

Selected publications

* * * * * * 1952 births Living people People from Zalău 20th-century Romanian mathematicians 21st-century Romanian mathematicians Academic staff of the University of Bonn Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars University of Pennsylvania faculty Mathematicians at the University of Pennsylvania Heidelberg University alumni Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Arithmetic geometers Romanian emigrants to the United States Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Romania) {{Europe-mathematician-stub