Jenő Egerváry
Encyclopedia
Jenő Egerváry (April 16, 1891 – November 30, 1958) was a Hungarian
mathematician
.
in 1891. In 1914, he received his doctorate at the Pázmány Péter University in Budapest, where he studied under the supervision of Lipót Fejér
. He then worked as an assistant at the Seismological Observatory in Budapest, and since 1918 as a professor at the Superior Industrial School in Budapest. In 1938 he was appointed Privatdozent
at the Pázmány Péter University in Budapest.
In 1941 he became full professor at the Technical University of Budapest, and in 1950 he was appointed Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Research Institute for Applied Mathematics
of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
.
Egerváry received the Gyula König Prize in 1932 and the Kossuth Prize
in 1949.
He committed suicide in 1958 because of the troubles caused to him by the communist bureaucracy.
, geometry
, differential equation
s, and matrix theory.
In what later became a classic result in the field of combinatorial optimization
, Egerváry generalized König's theorem
to the case of weighted graphs. This contribution was translated and published in 1955 by Harold W. Kuhn
, who also showed how to apply Kőnig
's and Egerváry's method to solve the assignment problem
; the resulting algorithm has since been known as the "Hungarian method".
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
.
Biography
Egerváry was born in DebrecenDebrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
in 1891. In 1914, he received his doctorate at the Pázmány Péter University in Budapest, where he studied under the supervision of Lipót Fejér
Lipót Fejér
Lipót Fejér , was a Hungarian mathematician. Fejér was born Leopold Weiss, and changed to the Hungarian name Fejér around 1900....
. He then worked as an assistant at the Seismological Observatory in Budapest, and since 1918 as a professor at the Superior Industrial School in Budapest. In 1938 he was appointed Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
at the Pázmány Péter University in Budapest.
In 1941 he became full professor at the Technical University of Budapest, and in 1950 he was appointed Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Research Institute for Applied Mathematics
Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics
The Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics is the research institute in mathematics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It was created in 1950 by Alfréd Rényi, who directed it until his death. Since its creation, the institute has been the center of mathematical research in Hungary. It received...
of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest.-History:...
.
Egerváry received the Gyula König Prize in 1932 and the Kossuth Prize
Kossuth Prize
The Kossuth Prize is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionary Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and group achievements in the fields of...
in 1949.
He committed suicide in 1958 because of the troubles caused to him by the communist bureaucracy.
Works
Egerváry's interests spanned the theory of algebraic equationsTheory of equations
In mathematics, the theory of equations comprises a major part of traditional algebra. Topics include polynomials, algebraic equations, separation of roots including Sturm's theorem, approximation of roots, and the application of matrices and determinants to the solving of equations.From the point...
, geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, differential equation
Differential equation
A differential equation is a mathematical equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the function itself and its derivatives of various orders...
s, and matrix theory.
In what later became a classic result in the field of combinatorial optimization
Combinatorial optimization
In applied mathematics and theoretical computer science, combinatorial optimization is a topic that consists of finding an optimal object from a finite set of objects. In many such problems, exhaustive search is not feasible...
, Egerváry generalized König's theorem
König's theorem (graph theory)
In the mathematical area of graph theory, König's theorem, proved by Dénes Kőnig in 1931, describes an equivalence between the maximum matching problem and the minimum vertex cover problem in bipartite graphs...
to the case of weighted graphs. This contribution was translated and published in 1955 by Harold W. Kuhn
Harold W. Kuhn
Harold William Kuhn is an American mathematician who studied game theory. He won the 1980 John von Neumann Theory Prize along with David Gale and Albert W. Tucker...
, who also showed how to apply Kőnig
Dénes König
Dénes Kőnig was a Jewish Hungarian mathematician who worked in and wrote the first textbook on the field of graph theory....
's and Egerváry's method to solve the assignment problem
Assignment problem
The assignment problem is one of the fundamental combinatorial optimization problems in the branch of optimization or operations research in mathematics...
; the resulting algorithm has since been known as the "Hungarian method".