George Yuri Rainich
Encyclopedia
George Yuri Rainich was a leading mathematical physicist in the early twentieth century.
and Munich
, eventually obtaining his doctorate in 1913 from the University of Kazan. In 1922, he emigrated to the United States, and after three years at Johns Hopkins University
, joined the faculty of the University of Michigan
, where he remained until his retirement in 1956.
Rainich's research centered around general relativity
and early work toward a unified field theory
. In 1924, Rainich found a set of equivalent conditions for a Lorentzian manifold to admit an interpretation as an exact non-null electrovacuum solution
in general relativity; these are now known as the Rainich conditions.
According to some sources, Peter Gabriel Bergmann brought Rainich's suggestion that algebraic topology (and knot theory in particular) should play a role in physics to the attention of John Archibald Wheeler
, which shortly led to the Ph.D. thesis of Charles W. Misner
. Another version of this tale replaces Bergmann with Hugh Everett
, who was a fellow student of Misner at the time.
Rainich's private papers are held at the University of Texas.
Career
Rainich studied mathematics in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, eventually obtaining his doctorate in 1913 from the University of Kazan. In 1922, he emigrated to the United States, and after three years at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, joined the faculty of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, where he remained until his retirement in 1956.
Rainich's research centered around general relativity
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...
and early work toward a unified field theory
Unified field theory
In physics, a unified field theory, occasionally referred to as a uniform field theory, is a type of field theory that allows all that is usually thought of as fundamental forces and elementary particles to be written in terms of a single field. There is no accepted unified field theory, and thus...
. In 1924, Rainich found a set of equivalent conditions for a Lorentzian manifold to admit an interpretation as an exact non-null electrovacuum solution
Electrovacuum solution
In general relativity, an electrovacuum solution is an exact solution of the Einstein field equation in which the only nongravitational mass-energy present is the field energy of an electromagnetic field, which must satisfy the source-free Maxwell equations appropriate to the given geometry...
in general relativity; these are now known as the Rainich conditions.
According to some sources, Peter Gabriel Bergmann brought Rainich's suggestion that algebraic topology (and knot theory in particular) should play a role in physics to the attention of John Archibald Wheeler
John Archibald Wheeler
John Archibald Wheeler was an American theoretical physicist who was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in explaining the basic principles behind nuclear fission...
, which shortly led to the Ph.D. thesis of Charles W. Misner
Charles W. Misner
Charles W. Misner is an American physicist and one of the authors of Gravitation. His specialties include general relativity and cosmology. His work has also provided early foundations for studies of quantum gravity and numerical relativity....
. Another version of this tale replaces Bergmann with Hugh Everett
Hugh Everett
Hugh Everett III was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, which he termed his "relative state" formulation....
, who was a fellow student of Misner at the time.
Rainich's private papers are held at the University of Texas.
Students
Several of Rainich's Ph.D. students became famous:- Ruel Vance Churchill (b. 1899) is well known to several generations of mathematics students as a coauthor of a standard textbook known as "Churchill & Brown."
- Marjorie Lee BrowneMarjorie Lee BrowneMarjorie Lee Browne was a notable mathematics educator, the second African-American woman to receive a doctoral degree in the U.S., and one of the first black women to receive a doctorate in mathematics in the U.S....
(9 September 1914-19 October 1979) was the second African-American woman to receive a doctoral degree in the U.S.