Erich Rothe

Erich Hans Rothe (July 21, 1895, Berlin – February 19, 1988, Ann Arbor, Michigan) was a German-born American mathematician, who did research in mathematical analysis, differential equations, integral equations, and mathematical physics. He is known for the Rothe method (also known as the method of lines or the method of semidiscretization) used for solving evolution equations.

Biography Rothe, whose father was a lawyer, attended Berlin's Royal Wilhelm Gymnasium and passed his Abitur in October 1913. After completing two semesters at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, he volunteered to join the German Army in a field artillery regiment. He was wounded in the Battle of Verdun and was discharged from the German Army in December 1918. In 1919, he continued his mathematical studies for one semester at Technische Hochschule Berlin and then transferred to the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin. There he studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy and in 1923 passed the Lehramtsexamen qualifying him to become a Gymnasium teacher. From 1923 to 1926, he taught at Berlin's Mommsen-Gymnasium. Rothe worked from 1926 to 1927 at the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin. In 1928, he married the mathematician Hildegard Ille (1899–1942). During the time he held positions in Breslau, he took study leave for a year at the University of Göttingen. In Breslau in April 1931, Hildegard Rothe gave birth to Erhard W. Rothe. His wife died of cancer in December 1942. At the University of Michigan, Rothe was an assistant professor from 1944 to 1949, an associate professor from 1949 to 1955, and a full professor from 1955 to 1964, when he retired as professor emeritus. and in the academic year from 1967 to 1968 at Western Michigan University (WMU).

Rothe published more than 50 mathematical papers. In 1986 at the age of 91, Rothe published the 242-page book Introduction to Various Aspects of Degree Theory in Banach Spaces. and for Rothe's fixed point theorem, proven in 1937. In 1978 a collection of papers was published in his honor. His doctoral students include Jane Cronin Scanlon and George J. Minty.

Upon his death, Erich Rothe was survived by his son and two granddaughters.