About the Speaker

Yuri Matiyasevich is a Russian mathematician and computer scientist best known for his negative solution of Hilbert’s tenth problem, about which he wrote a book.

After studying at the Mathematics and Mechanics Faculty of Leningrad State University, Matiyasevich went on to receive two doctoral degrees, in 1970 (from LOMI in Lenigrad) and in 1972 (from MIAN in Moscow). He was awarded the Markov Prize from the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1980 and the Humboldt Research Award to Outstanding Scholars in 1998.

He has been Head of the Laboratory of Mathematical Logic at LOMI since 1980, President of St. Petersburg Mathematical Society since 2008, member of Russian Academy of Sciences (corresponding member since 1997 and full member since 2008), corresponding member of Bavarian Academy of Sciences since 2007, Docteur Honoris Causa (l’Universite d’Auvergne, France, since 1996, and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris-6), France, since 2003).

Alan Turing and Number Theory

Beside well-known revolutionary contributions, Alan Turing had a number of significant results in "traditional" mathematics. In particular he was very much interested in the famous Riemann Hypothesis. This hypothesis, stated by Berhard Riemann in 1859 and included by David Hilbert in his 8th problem in 1990, still remains open, being now one of the Millennium Problems. The Riemann Hypothesis predicts positions of zeros of so called zeta function, and Alan Turing developed a rigorous method for verifying the Hypothesis for the initial zeros. He also invented a machine for calculating the values of the zeta function. In contrast to celebrated imaginable Turing machines, Turing started to implement this machine but never finished because of the War.