Cultivating a research imperative: mentoring mathematics at \textit{Stockholms Högskola}, 1882--1887

History of mathematics in the 19th century (01A55) History of mathematics at specific universities (01A73) History of real functions (26-03) History of measure and integration (28-03)

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The central role of the Swede Gösta Mittag-Leffler (1846--1927) in the promotion of specialized, research-oriented mathematics at Stockholm's Högskola is widely acknowledged. The author aims at describing the specific social and technical means by which he sought to cultivate a fledgling research community there during the early-to mid-1880s which have hitherto received little attention. In particular, a detailed study of the relationship of Mittag-Leffler's own research activity to that of his first Swedish students was absent from the existing literature. To characterize the system of beliefs underlying the reforms Mittag-Leffler achieved in the early 1880s the author adopts R. Steven Turner's term ``research imperative (1981), namely the ideal that the proper function of the university professor was not only to transmit academic learning, but also expand it through criticism and research. Drawing much on unpublished correspondence, the paper explores Mittag-Leffler's active and deliberate efforts to engage his students Ivar Bendixson and Edvard Phragmén in open problems within his own research agenda, support them through his institutional connections, and instill within them norms concerning research ideologies, practices of communication and criticism, and frameworks for shared knowledge. A particularly important part and result of this was the introduction of the new notions from Georg Cantor's set theory into Swedish mathematical research.

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