Willem Abraham Wythoff, born Wijthoff (), (6 October 1865 – 21 May 1939) was a
Dutch 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 ...
.
Biography
Wythoff was born in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
to Anna C. F. Kerkhoven and Abraham Willem Wijthoff, who worked in a sugar refinery.
[.] He studied at the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other bein ...
, and earned his Ph.D. in 1898 under the supervision of
Diederik Korteweg
Diederik Johannes Korteweg (31 March 1848 – 10 May 1941) was a Dutch mathematician. He is now best remembered for his work on the Korteweg–de Vries equation, together with Gustav de Vries.
Early life and education
Diederik Korteweg's father ...
.
Contributions
Wythoff is known in
combinatorial game theory
Combinatorial game theory is a branch of mathematics and theoretical computer science that typically studies sequential games with perfect information. Study has been largely confined to two-player games that have a ''position'' that the playe ...
and
number theory
Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Math ...
for his study of
Wythoff's game, whose solution involves the
Fibonacci number
In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers, commonly denoted , form a integer sequence, sequence, the Fibonacci sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. The sequence commonly starts from 0 and 1, although some authors start ...
s.
The
Wythoff array, a two-dimensional array of numbers related to this game and to the Fibonacci sequence, is also named after him.
[.]
In geometry, Wythoff is known for the
Wythoff construction
In geometry, a Wythoff construction, named after mathematician Willem Abraham Wythoff, is a method for constructing a uniform polyhedron or plane tiling. It is often referred to as Wythoff's kaleidoscopic construction.
Construction process
...
of
uniform tilings and
uniform polyhedra and for the
Wythoff symbol used as a notation for these geometric objects.
Selected publications
*.
*.
References
External links
*
1865 births
1939 deaths
19th-century Dutch mathematicians
Combinatorial game theorists
University of Amsterdam alumni
Scientists from Amsterdam
20th-century Dutch mathematicians
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