CAHİT ARF
1910-1997
CAHİT ARF - Biography
Cahit Arf was born on 11 October 1910 in Selanik . His family migrated to
Istanbul with the outbreak of the Balkan War in 1912. The family finally settled in İzmir
where Cahit Arf received his primary education. Upon receiving a scholarship from the
Turkish Ministry of Education he continued his education in Paris and graduated from Ecole
Normale Superieure .
Returning to Turkey, he taught mathematics at Galatasaray High School . In 1933
he joined the Mathematics Department of Istanbul University. In 1937 he went to
Göttingen, where he received his PhD from the University of Göttingen and he worked
with Helmut Hasse and Josue Cruz de Munoz. He returned to Istanbul University and
worked there until his involvement with the foundation work of Scientific and
Technological Research Council(TÜBİTAK) upon President Cemal Gursel's appointment in
1962. After serving as the founding director of the council in 1963, he joined the
Mathematics Department of Robert College in Istanbul. Arf spent the period of 1964–1966
working at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton ,New Jersey.He later visited
University of California Berkeley for one year.
Upon his final return to Turkey, he joined the Mathematics Department of the
Middle East Technical University and continued his studies there until his retirement in
1980. Arf received numerous awards for his contributions to mathematics, among them
are:Inonu Award in 1948, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
(TÜBİTAK) Science Award in 1974, and Commandeur des Palmes Academiques (France) in
1994. Arf was a member of the Mainz Academy and the Turkish Academy of Sciences. He
was the president of the Turkish Mathematical Society from 1985 until 1989. Arf died on
December 26, 1997 in Bebek, Istanbul, at the age of 87. His collected works were
published, in 1988, by the Turkish Mathematical Society.
Works
•Using scale and divider at synthetic geometry
•Arf invariant
•Arf rings
•Hasse-Arf Theorem
Synthetical Geometry : Branch of geometry using synthetically methods .Cahit Arf
discovered using ruler and compass at the classification of quadratic forms of objects.
Over F2 the Arf invariant is 0 if the quadratic form is equivalent to a direct sum of copies
of the binary form xy , and it is 1 if the form is a direct sum of x^2+xy+y^2 with a
number of copies of xy.
Arf Rings:
Hasse-Arf Theorem
In mathematics, specifically in local class field theory, the Hasse–Arf theorem is a
result concerning jumps of a filtration of the Galois group of a finite Galois
extention. A special case of it was originally proved by Helmut Hasse, and the
general result was proved by Cahit Arf.
About Conferences
•2008: Gunter Harder – Bonn Üniversitesi
Matematik Enstitüsü
•2007: Hendrik Lenstra – Leiden Üniversitesi
Matematik Enstitüsü
•2006: Jean-Pierre Serre – Collège de France
•2005: Peter Sarnak – Princeton Üniversitesi ve İleri
Araştırma Enstitüsü
•2004: Robert Langlands – İleri Araştırma Enstitüsü
•2003: David Mumford of Brown Üniversitesi
Uygulamalı Matematik Bölümü
•2002: Don Zagier – Utrecht Üniversitesi / Collège
de France
•2001: Gerhard Frey – Essen Üniversitesi Deneysel
Matematik Enstitüsü
Superscription and Awards
•1938-Doctorate
•1943 – Professor
•1955-Ordineryus Professor
•1948-İnönü’s award
•1974 TüBiTAK science award
•1980 Istanbul Technical University Honor award
•1981 METU Honor doctorate
•1989 Ege University Thankfulness of platelet
•1994 ‘Commandeur des Palmes Academiques’ medal at France
Memories
Math was always there already .Men has found it .
Men will found live forever with math.
Mathematics memorize and understand it yourself .