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History and philosophy of mathematics, biographies of mathematicians, mathematics education, recreational mathematics, communication of mathematics.

3 votes
0 answers
172 views

Origin of the standard result on convex hull of weights of an irreducible finite dimensional...

What is the earliest published statement and proof of the well-known result: for a simple Lie algebra over $\mathbb{C}$ or other algebraically closed field of characteristic 0, the convex hull (in the …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
3 votes

Linear Algebra classic books

A more "modern" book than those already mentioned is the one by Paul Halmos here. This was first published in 1942 in the Annals of Math. Studies series, with a later edition in 1958; that edition …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Convention about "long" roots for simple Lie algebras of types ADE?

The classification of simple Lie algebras (over $\mathbb{C}$ or other sufficiently large field of characteristic 0) correlates these Lie algebras with the irreducible reduced root systems (in Bourbaki …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
12 votes
Accepted

Who originated the standard symbols for Lie groups GL, SL, SU, etc.?

It's hard to provide definitive confirmation of Weyl's role, but his 1939 book was highly influential in all further developments. It's important to realize that notation (and terminology) in mathe …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
18 votes
Accepted

Why are they called Specht Modules?

The question is interesting though perhaps not strictly "research-level". Terminology in mathematics develops a bit haphazardly, and sometimes things get misleading names. In this case the work of …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Origin of the term "weight" in representation theory

Robert Bryant's comment motivates me to mention the "weighty" historical monograph Emergence of the Theory of Lie Groups (Springer, 2000) written by Thomas Hawkins. As usual with terminology such as …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
3 votes

History of Jordan Canonical Form?

As I pointed out in my comment, there are too many questions listed here. Maybe I can clarify the term "Jordan-Chevalley decomposition" in the last one. Besides the arXiv post by Danielle Couty an …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
5 votes

Origin of the theorem on the existence of the smallest field of definition of an affine variety

As far as I can see, Weil was indeed the main source for this viewpoint on fields of definition in algebraic geometry. However, it may be hard to pin down the specific result quoted here in his 1935 …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Smallest dimension of nontrivial representation of a simple Lie algebra over `$\mathbb{C}$`

The question involved here is natural and very classical, but I'm unsure what has been formally stated and proved in the literature. The only approach I know involves assembling facts that apparently …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
48 votes

Fraktur symbols for Lie algebras

Some of what's been said so far about the history makes good sense, but by no means all. Let me add my own perspective, for what it's worth. The font called Fraktur by LaTeX (also known as "gothic …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
22 votes
4 answers
4k views

How did "Ore's Conjecture" become a conjecture?

The narrow question here concerns the history of one development in group theory, but the broader context involves the sometimes loose use of the term "conjecture". This goes back to older work of …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
65 votes
6 answers
9k views

Origin of terms "flag", "flag manifold", "flag variety"?

These terms have become common in Lie theory and related algebraic geometry and combinatorics, as seen in many questions posted on MO, but it's unclear to me where they first came into use. Probably …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
6 votes

What to do with antique math books?

Though I haven't dealt directly with them, I'm aware of another established company (in Ohio) which buys and sells advanced or rare books in mathematics: http://www.zubalbooks.com/in …
31 votes

How might M.C. Escher have designed his patterns?

The June/July 2010 issue of the AMS Notices here has a further article by Doris Schattschneider (a graduate school classmate of mine) on Coxeter and Escher. Doris has written extensively about Esche …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
39 votes

Pseudonyms of famous mathematicians

Since some of those mentioned in other answers are among the living, let me also mention Victor Kac and his teacher Ernest Vinberg. They published a joint paper Spinors of 13-dimensional space in Ad …

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