Roger Wolcott Richardson
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Roger Wolcott Richardson (30 May 1930 – 15 June 1993) was a mathematician noted for his work in
representation theory Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), ...
and
geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
. He was born in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
, and educated at
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...
where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1958 under the supervision of
Hans Samelson Hans Samelson (3 March 1916 – 22 September 2005) was a German-American mathematician who worked in differential geometry, topology and the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras—important in describing the symmetry of analytical structures. C ...
. After a postdoc appointment at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
, he accepted a faculty position at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. He emigrated to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 1970, taking up a chair at
Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...
. In 1978 he moved to the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, where he stayed as faculty until his death. Richardson's best known result states that if ''P'' is a
parabolic subgroup Parabolic subgroup may refer to: * a parabolic subgroup of a reflection group * a subgroup of an algebraic group that contains a Borel subgroup In the theory of algebraic groups, a Borel subgroup of an algebraic group ''G'' is a maximal Zarisk ...
of a
reductive group In mathematics, a reductive group is a type of linear algebraic group over a field. One definition is that a connected linear algebraic group ''G'' over a perfect field is reductive if it has a representation that has a finite kernel and is a ...
, then ''P'' has a dense orbit on its nilradical, i.e., one whose closure is the whole space. This orbit is now universally known as the Richardson orbit. In 1997 the
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
published ''Algebraic Groups and Lie Groups: A Volume of Papers in Honour of the Late R. W. Richardson'', which was organized by a committee of 5 mathematicians selected by the
Australian Mathematical Society The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing ...
. The volume's preface has several paragraphs about Richardson's research.


Publications

*


See also

* Prehomogeneous vector space


External links

* *
Mathematical Reviews ''Mathematical Reviews'' is a journal published by the American Mathematical Society (AMS) that contains brief synopses, and in some cases evaluations, of many articles in mathematics, statistics, and theoretical computer science. The AMS also pu ...
br>analysis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Roger Wolcott 1930 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American algebraists Louisiana State University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Michigan alumni Australian mathematicians Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Mathematicians from Louisiana University of Washington faculty Princeton University people Academics of Durham University Academic staff of the Australian National University