Stanisław Łojasiewicz

Stanisław Łojasiewicz ( ; 9 October 1926 – 14 November 2002) was a Polish mathematician, professor at the Jagiellonian University and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences known for his work in real algebraic geometry and theory of distributions.

Early life and education Stanisław Łojasiewicz was born in 1926 in Warsaw to father Stanisław, who served as captain in the Polish Army. In 1945, he was admitted to the Jagiellonian University. During his studies he was particularly interested in the theory of differential equations and was influenced by Tadeusz Ważewski. In 1950, he was awarded a doctorate for his work in this branch of mathematics.

Career At the end of the 1950s, Łojasiewicz solved the problem of distribution division by analytic functions, introducing the %C5%81ojasiewicz inequality. Its solution opened the road to important results in the new theory of partial differential equations. The method established by Łojasiewicz led him to advance the theory of semianalytic sets, which opened an important chapter in modern analysis.

Honours and awards In 1970, Łojasiewicz delivered an invited address on the subject of semianalytic geometry at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Nice, France. The following year, he accepted the Jurzykowski Prize. In 1998, he became the recipient of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Commander's Cross with Star).

Death and legacy On 14 November 2002, Łojasiewicz died of heart attack when returning from a scientific conference in Italy. He was buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków.

The Łojasiewicz Lectures are a series of annual lectures in mathematics given at the Jagiellonian University in honour of Łojasiewicz.