Willem Abraham Wythoff

Willem Abraham Wythoff
Born (1865-10-06)6 October 1865
Amsterdam
Died 1939
Amsterdam
Nationality Dutch
Fields Mathematics
Alma mater University of Amsterdam
Doctoral advisor Diederik Korteweg
Known for Wythoff's game, Wythoff construction, Wythoff symbol

Willem Abraham Wythoff (Dutch pronunciation: [ʋɛitɦɔf]) (6 October 1865 – 1939) was a Dutch mathematician.

Biography

Wythoff was born in Amsterdam, where his father worked in a sugar refinery.[1] He studied at the University of Amsterdam, and earned his Ph.D. in 1898 under the supervision of Diederik Korteweg.[2]

Contributions

Wythoff is known in combinatorial game theory and number theory for his study of Wythoff's game, whose solution involves the Fibonacci numbers.[1] The Wythoff array, a two-dimensional array of numbers related to this game and to the Fibonacci sequence, is also named after him.[3][4]

In geometry, Wythoff is known for the Wythoff construction of uniform tilings and uniform polyhedra and for the Wythoff symbol used as a notation for these geometric objects.

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 Stakhov, Alexey; Stakhov, Alekseĭ Petrovich; Olsen, Scott Anthony (2009), The Mathematics of Harmony: From Euclid to Contemporary Mathematics and Computer Science, K & E Series on Knots and Everything 22, World Scientific, pp. 129–130, ISBN 9789812775825.
  2. Willem Abraham Wythoff at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  3. Kimberling, Clark (1995), "The Zeckendorf array equals the Wythoff array" (PDF), Fibonacci Quarterly 33 (1): 3–8.
  4. Morrison, D. R. (1980), "A Stolarsky array of Wythoff pairs", A Collection of Manuscripts Related to the Fibonacci Sequence (PDF), Santa Clara, Calif: The Fibonacci Association, pp. 134–136.

External links

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