Preda Mihăilescu
Romanian mathematician
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Preda V. Mihăilescu (Romanian pronunciation: [mihə.iˈlesku]) (born 23 May 1955) is a Romanian mathematician, best known for his proof of the Catalan's conjecture, first proposed in 1844.
Catalan's conjecture
Preda Mihăilescu | |
|---|---|
Mihailescu in 2001 | |
| Born | 23 May 1955 Bucharest, Romania |
| Education | ETH Zürich |
| Known for | proving Catalan's conjecture |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Workplaces | University of Göttingen University of Paderborn |
| Erwin Engeler Hendrik Lenstra | |
Biography
Born in Bucharest,[1] he is the brother of Vintilă Mihăilescu.
After leaving Romania in 1973, he settled in Switzerland.[1] He studied mathematics and computer science in Zürich, receiving a PhD from ETH Zürich in 1997.[2] His PhD thesis, titled Cyclotomy of rings and primality testing,[3] was written under the direction of Erwin Engeler and Hendrik Lenstra.
For several years, he did research at the University of Paderborn, Germany. Since 2005, he has held a professorship at the University of Göttingen.
Major research
In 2002, Mihăilescu proved Catalan's conjecture.[4][5][6] This number-theoretical conjecture, formulated by the French and Belgian mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan in 1844, had stood unresolved for 158 years. Mihăilescu's proof appeared in Crelle's Journal in 2004.