C. T. C. Wall
Encyclopedia
Charles Terence Clegg Wall (born 14 December 1936 in Bristol
, England
) is a leading British
mathematician, educated at Marlborough
and Trinity College, Cambridge
. He is an emeritus
professor of the University of Liverpool
, where he was first appointed Professor in 1965. From 1978 to 1980 he was the President of the London Mathematical Society
.
; this includes his 1959 Cambridge Ph.D thesis entitled "Algebraic aspects of cobordism", written under the direction of Frank Adams
and Christopher Zeeman. His research was then mainly in the area of manifold
s, particularly geometric topology
and related abstract algebra
included in surgery theory
, of which he was one of the founders. His 1970 research monograph "Surgery on Compact Manifolds" is a major reference work in geometric topology.
In 1971 he conjectured that every finitely generated group is accessible
. This conjecture is known as "Wall's conjecture". It motivated much progress in the understanding of splittings of groups. In 1985 Martin J. Dunwoody
proved the conjecture for the class of finitely presented groups. The resolution of the full conjecture took until 1991 when, surprising to most mathematicians at the time, Dunwoody
found a finitely generated group that is not accessible and hence the conjecture turned out to be not correct in its general formulation.
C.T.C Wall's work since the mid-1970s has mostly been in singularity theory
as developed by R. Thom, J. Milnor and V. Arnold, and especially concerns the classification of isolated singularities of differentiable maps and of algebraic varieties. He has written two research monographs on singularity theory, "The Geometry of Topological Stability" (1989) (containing a great deal of original work) with Andrew du Plessis, and "Singular Points of Plane Curves" (2004).
His notable students include J.W. (Bill) Bruce, Andrew Casson
, Francis E A Johnson, David Mond, Andrew du Plessis, and Mark Roberts
.
of the Wirral
area SDP
from 1985 until its merger with the then Liberal Party in 1988. Terry Wall continued on as treasurer of the newly formed Wirral West
Liberal Democrats
and, as of August 2010, was still their treasurer. Terry Wall has been an LEA
appointed governor of West Kirby Grammar School
since 1987. He has also held the post of treasurer at Hoylake
Chamber Concert Society since 2000.
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is a leading British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mathematician, educated at Marlborough
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
. He is an emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
professor of the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
, where he was first appointed Professor in 1965. From 1978 to 1980 he was the President of the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...
.
Work
His early work was in cobordism theory in algebraic topologyAlgebraic topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics which uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariants that classify topological spaces up to homeomorphism, though usually most classify up to homotopy equivalence.Although algebraic topology...
; this includes his 1959 Cambridge Ph.D thesis entitled "Algebraic aspects of cobordism", written under the direction of Frank Adams
Frank Adams
John Frank Adams FRS was a British mathematician, one of the founders of homotopy theory.-Life:He was born in Woolwich, a suburb in south-east London. He began research as a student of Abram Besicovitch, but soon switched to algebraic topology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of...
and Christopher Zeeman. His research was then mainly in the area of manifold
Manifold
In mathematics , a manifold is a topological space that on a small enough scale resembles the Euclidean space of a specific dimension, called the dimension of the manifold....
s, particularly geometric topology
Geometric topology
In mathematics, geometric topology is the study of manifolds and maps between them, particularly embeddings of one manifold into another.- Topics :...
and related abstract algebra
Abstract algebra
Abstract algebra is the subject area of mathematics that studies algebraic structures, such as groups, rings, fields, modules, vector spaces, and algebras...
included in surgery theory
Surgery theory
In mathematics, specifically in geometric topology, surgery theory is a collection of techniques used to produce one manifold from another in a 'controlled' way, introduced by . Surgery refers to cutting out parts of the manifold and replacing it with a part of another manifold, matching up along...
, of which he was one of the founders. His 1970 research monograph "Surgery on Compact Manifolds" is a major reference work in geometric topology.
In 1971 he conjectured that every finitely generated group is accessible
Stallings theorem about ends of groups
In the mathematical subject of group theory, the Stallings theorem about ends of groups states that a finitely generated group G has more than one end if and only if the group G admits a nontrivial decomposition as an amalgamated free product or an HNN extension over a finite subgroup...
. This conjecture is known as "Wall's conjecture". It motivated much progress in the understanding of splittings of groups. In 1985 Martin J. Dunwoody
Martin Dunwoody
Martin John Dunwoody is an Emeritus Professor of mathematics at the University of Southampton, England.He earned his Ph.D. in 1964 from the Australian National University. He held positions at the University of Sussex before becoming full Professor at the University of Southampton in 1992...
proved the conjecture for the class of finitely presented groups. The resolution of the full conjecture took until 1991 when, surprising to most mathematicians at the time, Dunwoody
Martin Dunwoody
Martin John Dunwoody is an Emeritus Professor of mathematics at the University of Southampton, England.He earned his Ph.D. in 1964 from the Australian National University. He held positions at the University of Sussex before becoming full Professor at the University of Southampton in 1992...
found a finitely generated group that is not accessible and hence the conjecture turned out to be not correct in its general formulation.
C.T.C Wall's work since the mid-1970s has mostly been in singularity theory
Singularity theory
-The notion of singularity:In mathematics, singularity theory is the study of the failure of manifold structure. A loop of string can serve as an example of a one-dimensional manifold, if one neglects its width. What is meant by a singularity can be seen by dropping it on the floor...
as developed by R. Thom, J. Milnor and V. Arnold, and especially concerns the classification of isolated singularities of differentiable maps and of algebraic varieties. He has written two research monographs on singularity theory, "The Geometry of Topological Stability" (1989) (containing a great deal of original work) with Andrew du Plessis, and "Singular Points of Plane Curves" (2004).
His notable students include J.W. (Bill) Bruce, Andrew Casson
Andrew Casson
Andrew John Casson FRS is a mathematician, an expert on geometric topology.Casson is the Philip Schuyler Beebe Professor of Mathematics at Yale University in the United States where he served as department chair between 2004 and 2007. His Ph.D. advisor at the University of Liverpool was C. T. C...
, Francis E A Johnson, David Mond, Andrew du Plessis, and Mark Roberts
Mark Roberts
Mark Roberts is a British streaker who has run naked during several international events.A father of three, Roberts' streaking began when he saw a female streaker run naked down a 1993 Rugby Sevens game in Hong Kong...
.
Awards
- 1965 – Berwick Prize
- 1966 – Invited address at the 1966 ICMICM-Organizations:*International Confederation of Midwives* International Creative Management, a talent and literary agency* ICM Research, a polling company ; a subsidiary of Creston plc, a marketing services company registered in England and Wales* ICM Registry LLC, the company that sponsors the .xxx...
in Moscow - 1969 – Elected Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
- 1970 – Invited address at the 1970 ICMICM-Organizations:*International Confederation of Midwives* International Creative Management, a talent and literary agency* ICM Research, a polling company ; a subsidiary of Creston plc, a marketing services company registered in England and Wales* ICM Registry LLC, the company that sponsors the .xxx...
in Nice - 1976 – Senior Whitehead PrizeSenior Whitehead PrizeThe Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society is currently awarded in odd numbered years in memory of John Henry Constantine Whitehead, president of the LMS between 1953 and 1955. The Prize is awarded to mathematicians normally resident in the United Kingdom on 1 January of the...
- 1988 – Pólya PrizePólya Prize (LMS)The Pólya Prize is a prize in mathematics, awarded by the London Mathematical Society. Second only to the triennial De Morgan Medal in prestige among the society's awards, it is awarded in the years that are not divisible by three – those in which the De Morgan Medal is not awarded...
- 1988 – Sylvester MedalSylvester MedalThe Sylvester Medal is a bronze medal awarded by the Royal Society for the encouragement of mathematical research, and accompanied by a £1,000 prize...
- 1990 – Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and LettersRoyal Danish Academy of Sciences and LettersRoyal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters is a Danish non-governmental science Academy, founded 13 November 1742 by permission of the King Christian VI, as a historical Collegium Antiquitatum...
- 2000 – Elected Honorary Member of the Irish Mathematical Society
Personal life
Terry Wall has been married to Sandra Hearnshaw since 1959, and they have four children together. He was the treasurerTreasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
of the Wirral
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...
area SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
from 1985 until its merger with the then Liberal Party in 1988. Terry Wall continued on as treasurer of the newly formed Wirral West
Wirral West
Wirral West is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...
Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
and, as of August 2010, was still their treasurer. Terry Wall has been an LEA
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
appointed governor of West Kirby Grammar School
West Kirby Grammar School
West Kirby Grammar School is a girls grammar school and sixth form college located in the town of West Kirby on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The school currently has 1182 students on roll of whom most are girls ....
since 1987. He has also held the post of treasurer at Hoylake
Hoylake
Hoylake is a seaside town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, on Merseyside, England. It is located at the north western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, near to the town of West Kirby and where the River Dee estuary meets the Irish Sea...
Chamber Concert Society since 2000.