Jan Saxl (5 June 1948 – 2 May 2020) was a Czech-British
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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
, and a professor at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. He was known for his work in finite
group theory
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups.
The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ...
, particularly on consequences of the
classification of finite simple groups
In mathematics, the classification of the finite simple groups is a result of group theory stating that every finite simple group is either cyclic, or alternating, or it belongs to a broad infinite class called the groups of Lie type, or els ...
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 1968, during the
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in
the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Se ...
.
After undergraduate studies at the
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...
, he completed his DPhil in 1973 at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
under the direction of
Peter M. Neumann
Peter Michael Neumann OBE (28 December 1940 – 18 December 2020) was a British mathematician. His fields of interest included the history of mathematics and Galois theory.
Biography
Born in December 1940, Neumann was a son of the German-bor ...
, with the title of ''Multiply Transitive Permutation Groups''.
Saxl held postdoctoral positions at Oxford and the
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois s ...
, and a lecturer position at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
. He moved to the University of Cambridge in 1976, and spent the rest of his career there. He was elected as a fellow of
Gonville and Caius College
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
in 1986, and he retired in 2015.
Saxl published around 100 papers, and according to MathSciNet, these have been cited over 1900 times. He is noted for his work in finite group theory, particularly on permutation groups, and often coauthored with Robert Guralnick,
Martin Liebeck
Martin Liebeck (born 23 September 1954) is a professor of Pure Mathematics at Imperial College London whose research interests include group theory and algebraic combinatorics.Cheryl Praeger. Some notable and highly-cited examples of this work are as follows. Liebeck, Saxl and Praeger gave a relatively simple and self-contained proof of the
O'Nan–Scott theorem In mathematics, the O'Nan–Scott theorem is one of the most influential theorems of permutation group theory; the classification of finite simple groups is what makes it so useful. Originally the theorem was about maximal subgroups of the symmetric ...
. It had long been known that every maximal subgroup of a
symmetric group
In abstract algebra, the symmetric group defined over any set is the group whose elements are all the bijections from the set to itself, and whose group operation is the composition of functions. In particular, the finite symmetric group ...
or
alternating group
In mathematics, an alternating group is the group of even permutations of a finite set. The alternating group on a set of elements is called the alternating group of degree , or the alternating group on letters and denoted by or
Basic pr ...
was intransitive, imprimitive, or primitive, and the same authors in 1988 gave a partial description of which primitive subgroups could occur.
Personal life
Saxl was married to Cambridge mathematician Ruth M. Williams and they had one daughter, Miriam.
Death
Saxl died on 2 May 2020, after a long period of poor health.
Awards and honors
A three-day conference in the joint honor of Saxl and Martin Liebeck was held at the University of Cambridge in July 2015.