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scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1173110
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    scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1173110

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      13 July 1998
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      Biography
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      trigonometric sums
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      biography
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      Goldbach problem
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      Waring's problem
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      Riemann zeta-function
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      Pólya-Vinogradov inequality for character sums
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      lattice point problems
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      This is a paper on the life and work of the number-theorist Ivan Matveevich Vinogradov (born September 14, 1891, died March 28, 1983). For reasons unknown to the reviewer, it was published eleven years after Vinogradov's death, and it took another five years to get to be reviewed. The author first gives a vivid and well-written sketch of the life of Ivan Matveevich. For example, he says: ``Ivan Matveevich did everything on a grand scale: when he played chess, he would play hundreds of games; when he played vint, he would continue for days; when lifting weights, he would lift what no one else could; when he took a hike, he would go tens of kilometers; when he worked on a problem, it would be the Goldbach problem or the Riemann conjecture.'' The text is accompanied by several photos, plus an amusing drawing by Vinogradov (he drew very good cartoons all his life) in which one sees how he ``undressed'' (means ``solve'' in colloquial Russian) the Goldbach problem. As is later explained, Vinogradov acquired fame by solving the (ternary) Goldbach problem in 1937, namely by showing that every sufficiently large odd number \(N\) is a sum of three primes, and by actually producing an asymptotic formula for the number of representations of \(N\) as a sum of three primes. The reader is being misled into believing that this is the definitive solution of the Goldbach problem. Unfortunately, this is not so, and the Goldbach problem, namely that every even number greater than two is a sum of two primes, is much more difficult, and to this day is unsolved. The best result, due to Chen (1973), is that every sufficiently large even number is a sum of a prime and a number having at most two prime factors, and its proof is one of the best known results of sieve theory. A discussion of the main number-theoretic achievements of Vinogradov follows the biographical part. The reader will find a discussion on the Pólya-Vinogradov inequality for character sums, followed by the investigations concerning lattice point problems. Suffice it to say that Vinogradov's estimate for the error term in the sphere problem withstood improvement for several decades. However, despite his accomplishments, Vinogradov was not infallible. Not mentioned in the text is that his paper ``On the number of integer points inside a circle'' [Bull. Acad. Sci. URSS (7) 1932, 313-336 (1932; Zbl 0005.24701)] contains irreparable errors, as pointed out by \textit{Loo-Keng Hua} [Q. J. Math., Oxf. Ser. 13, 18-29 (1942; Zbl 0060.11605)]. Vinogradov's method of trigonometric sums, based on the elementary identity \[ \int_0^1 e^{2\pi imx} \text{d}x = \begin{cases} 1,&\text{if }m=0,\\ 0, &m\not=0,\;m \text{ an integer},\end{cases} \] is well-explained. It was, and still is, a powerful tool for dealing with a certain class of number-theoretic problems. As an illustration, it is discussed how Vinogradov used this method to obtain the bound \(G(n) < 6n\log n + 10\) in Waring's problem, where \(G(n)\) is the smallest \(k = k(n)\) such that \(N = x_1^n + \ldots + x_k^n\) is solvable for \(N \geq N_1(n)\) in nonnegative integers \(x_j\). Since \(G(n) > n\) is not difficult to show, Vinogradov's bound is close to being best possible. Another application of this method, made in several papers by Vinogradov and other Russian number-theorists (e.g., N. M. Korobov and N. G. Chudakov, who never seemed to have received full credit for their work) concerns the order of the Riemann zeta-function \(\zeta(s)\) on the line \(\sigma = \text{Re }s = 1\) and the zero-free region of \(\zeta(s)\). Thus we find in the text a photocopy of a page of the handwritten manuscript of Vinogradov's note ``A new estimate of the function \(\zeta(1+it)\)'' [\textit{I. M. Vinogradov}, Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 22, 161-164 (1958; Zbl 0097.26302)]. This note contains a sketch (typical of Vinogradov, since a glance at the bibliography will reveal that the majority of his published research work consists of notes three to five pages in length), of the important results that \[ \zeta(1+it)= O(\log^{2/3}t)\tag{1} \] and that \(\zeta(s)\) does not vanish in the region \[ \sigma \geq 1 - A(\log t)^{-2/3}\qquad(s = \sigma + it,\;A > 0,\;t \geq t_0 > 0). \tag{2} \] The bound (1) is correct and shows the power and importance of Vinogradov's method of trigonometric sums, since to this day (1) is the best order result for \(\zeta(1+it)\). However (2), which has been quoted in many books and papers but unfortunately never officially retracted, has no valid proof to date. A valid estimate of the zero-free region that can be derived by Vinogradov's method (see e.g. Chapter 6 of the reviewer's monograph [\textit{A. Ivić}, The Riemann zeta-function, John Wiley, New York (1985; Zbl 0556.10026)] is that \(\zeta(s)\) does not vanish for \[ \sigma \geq 1 - A(\log t)^{-2/3}(\log\log t)^{-1/3} \qquad(s = \sigma + it,\;A > 0,\;t \geq t_0 > 0). \tag{3} \] The difference in the \(\log\log\)-factor between (2) and (3) accounts then for a slightly poorer error term in the prime number theorem, which is equivalent to the zero-free region for \(\zeta(s)\). Namely, Vinogradov claimed that one can obtain \[ \pi(x) = \int_2^x{{ \text d}t\over\log t} + O\left(x\exp(-C(\log x)^{3/5}) \right), \] whereas what does follow is \(O\left(x\exp(-C(\log x)^{3/5}(\log\log x)^{-1/5})\right)\) (op. cit., Chapter 12). After the discussion on the scientific work of I. M. Vinogradov there is a section entitled ``Main dates in the life and activity of I. M. Vinogradov''. This is given chronologically and is very instructive. For example, it is seen that I. M. Vinogradov was 1934-1983. Director and Head of the Number Theory Section of the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Moscow). Thus I. M. Vinogradov had immense political and mathematical power for a period close to half of a century, which is truly extraordinary! He survived the turmoil of the Lenin times, the horrible times of Stalin, the unpleasant times of Khrushchev, and the bad times of Brezhnev, staying always on top. In fact, he constantly thrived, e.g. we see that he was 1945. Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and gold medal ``Hammer and Sickle'' for outstanding scientific services in the mathematical field, working out powerful analytic methods in number theory and for many years of fruitful work training cadres of mathematicians. (From ``Pravda'', No. 139, June 11, 1945.) Already in 1929 I. M. Vinogradov was elected Full Member of the prestigious Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In his days this honor meant quite a lot, and the important title ``academician'' has somehow almost become synonymous with the name of I. M. Vinogradov, who carried it for a full 54 years. The author tells of the incident when ``\dots{} a woman who had had dinner at the same table with him for three weeks did not believe that he was a member of the Academy. This both offended and angered Ivan Matveevich. Only his colorful way of speaking, full of unexpected tropes and metaphors, betrayed the extraordinary personality he possessed''. The article ends with a ``Chronological index of the works of I. M. Vinogradov''. This is done in detail, and contains besides his many mathematical papers some which are not scientific at all, e.g., entry 1947 (e) is: Report on the session of the Soviet Academy of Sciences commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution (Russian), Vestnik Akad. Nauk SSSR 1947, No. 11, 74-75 (1947). I. M. Vinogradov was a prolific textbook writer, and his books were published in many editions in a large number of copies, which was certainly facilitated by the powerful position he had in Soviet mathematics. In conclusion, let it be said that the author has presented a comprehensive text with a great deal of information on the life and mathematical work of I. M. Vinogradov, and indirectly on the times in which he lived. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0833.00028].
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