On the Arf invariant in historical perspective (Q969634)

The author specializes on Hasse and his work and this led him to the work of Cahit Arf, Hasse's student (Ph.D. 1937--38) and in particular to the story of the Arf invariant. A principal source of information is the Hasse collection at the Göttingen University Library where there is correspondence between Hasse and Arf: 65 letters from 1939 to 1975. Some are transcribed here and translated into English. A brief biography of Arf is given centering on his puzzling move to Göttingen in 1937 where, besides, Hasse, he came under the influence of Ernst Witt. The author reviews the notion of quadratic space and other concepts sufficient to introduce the Arf invariant (and observes that it is printed on the 10-Lira note). Paralleling the mathematical story are interesting insights into the role Hasse played including as editor of the journal which published Arf's seminal paper in 1941.