Walther Franz Anton von Dyck (6 December 1856 – 5 November 1934), born Dyck () and later ennobled, was a German mathematician. He is credited with being the first to define a mathematical group, in the modern sense in . He laid the foundations of combinatorial group theory, being the first to systematically study a group by generators and relations.

Biography

thumb|Bust of Walther von Dyck at his grave in Munich

Von Dyck was a student of Felix Klein He was a Plenary Speaker of the ICM in 1908 at Rome.

Von Dyck is the son of the Bavarian painter Hermann Dyck.

Legacy

The Dyck language in formal language theory is named after him, as are Dyck's theorem and Dyck's surface in the theory of surfaces, together with the von Dyck groups, the Dyck tessellations, Dyck paths, and the Dyck graph.

Publications

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Notes

References

  • Ulf Hashagen: Walther von Dyck (1856–1934). Mathematik, Technik und Wissenschaftsorganisation an der TH München, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003,