Simon Bernhard Kochen (; born 14 August 1934) is a Canadian

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 ...

, working in the fields of

model theory In mathematical logic, model theory is the study of the relationship between theory (mathematical logic), formal theories (a collection of Sentence (mathematical logic), sentences in a formal language expressing statements about a Structure (mat ...

number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...

and

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

Education and career

Kochen was born in

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; ; ) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 565,039, ...

, and escaped the Nazis with his family, thanks to a courageous Norwegian ship captain. Raised in England, he attended grammar school before moving to Canada. Kochen attended

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees there. He moved to the US afterwards and received his Ph.D. (''Ultrafiltered Products and Arithmetical Extensions'') from

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 ...

in 1958 under the direction of

Alonzo Church Alonzo Church (June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who made major contributions to mathematical logic and the foundations of theoretical computer science. He is bes ...

. Since 1967 he has been a member of Princeton's Department of Mathematics. He chaired the department from 1989 to 1992 and became the Henry Burchard Fine Professor in mathematics in 1994.Princeton Philosophy Department bio
/ref> During 1966–1967 and 1978–1979, Kochen was at 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 ...

. In 1967 he was awarded, together with James Ax, the seventh Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory for a series of three joint papers on Diophantine problems involving p-adic techniques. Kochen and Ax also co-authored the Ax–Kochen theorem, an application of

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

. In 1967 Kochen and

Ernst Specker Ernst Paul Specker (11 February 1920, Zürich – 10 December 2011, Zürich) was a Swiss mathematician. Much of his most influential work was on Quine's New Foundations, a set theory with a universal set, but he is most famous for the Kochen� ...

proved the

Kochen–Specker theorem In quantum mechanics, the Kochen–Specker (KS) theorem, also known as the Bell–KS theorem, is a "no-go" theorem proved by John S. Bell in 1966 and by Simon B. Kochen and Ernst Specker in 1967. It places certain constraints on the pe ...

in quantum mechanics and quantum contextuality.Kochen, Specker: ''The problem of hidden variables in quantum mechanics.'' Journal of Mathematics and Mechanics, volume 17, 1967, pages 59–88 In 2004 Kochen and

John Horton Conway John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician. He was active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many b ...

proved the free will theorem. The theorem states that if we have a certain amount of

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

, then, subject to certain assumptions, so must some

elementary particles In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. The Standard Model presently recognizes seventeen distinct particles—twelve fermions and five bosons. As a con ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kochen, Simon B. Living people Model theorists 1934 births Scientists from Antwerp Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars McGill University alumni Princeton University alumni Princeton University faculty Cornell University faculty Number theorists Mathematical physicists

Education and career

See also

References

External links