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| | Hi there. Let me begin by introducing the author, her title is Myrtle Cleary. Doing ceramics is what love doing. Bookkeeping is what I do. Puerto Rico is exactly where he and his spouse reside.<br><br>my homepage :: [http://www.buzzbit.net/user/AFilson www.buzzbit.net] |
| '''Floyd Leroy Williams''' (born September 20, 1939) is a North American mathematician well known for his work in [[Lie theory]] and, most recently, [[mathematical physics]]. In addition to Lie theory, his research interests are in [[homological algebra]] and the mathematics of [[quantum mechanics]]. He received his B.S.(1962) in Mathematics from [[Lincoln University of Missouri]], and later his M.S.(1965) and Ph.D.(1972) from [[Washington University in St. Louis]]. Williams was appointed [[professor]] of mathematics at the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] in 1984, and has been professor [[emeritus]] since 2005.
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| == Biographical Sketch ==
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| Floyd Williams was born on September 20, 1939, and lived in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. He was raised in extreme [[poverty]]. His mother told him not to complain about their situation, but rather to have faith in [[God]] and work hard. Her advice was taken, and it worked. He eventually was [[ordained]] in addition to being a [[mathematician]].
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| However, it was [[music]], not [[mathematics]], that appealed to him through [[high school]]. "In fact," he admits, "mathematics was the only course in which I did not do well." Williams had not thought of going to [[college]] until his last week in high school when he was offered a music [[scholarship]] at [[Lincoln University of Missouri]] in [[Jefferson City, Missouri]].
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| It was in his sophomore year that he became intrigued by the [[theory of relativity]], which turned out to be his main motivation for studying [[mathematics]]. In 1972 he completed his [[Ph.D.]] from [[Washington University]] where his [[thesis]] was in the field of [[Lie theory]]. He was an [[professor|instructor]] and [[lecturer]] at [[MIT]] from 1972–1975, before moving to the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] as an assistant professor in 1975. In 1983 he received an [[MRI grant]] to continuing researching in this field, ushering him into the mainstream of mathematics.
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| As an [[African-American]] in a field that has had little [[minority group|minority]] representation, Williams has felt the sting of [[discrimination]] during his career. However, he has been a motivation and role model for many young minorities, encouraging them to enter [[science]] and [[engineering]]. Williams has helped to set up programs that allow pre-college students and [[undergraduates]] to meet and talk with [[mathematicians]], [[scientists]] and [[engineers]], most notably at a summer camp run at [[MIT]]. "All that many of these youngsters see is different courses," he says, "but they want to know what mathematicians do from 8 am to 5 pm. Once [[minorities]] commit to [[Postgraduate education|graduate]] work in [[science]] or [[engineering]]," he continues, "they need extra help and support for what, for many, is the foreign environment of [[graduate school]]. Such programs exist at few [[universities]], but we need more of them."
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| In 2012 he became a fellow of the [[American Mathematical Society]].<ref>[http://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society], retrieved 2013-09-01.</ref>
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| == Mathematics ==
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| Williams' recent contribution to [[quantum mechanics]] has been in the area of [[Nikiforov-Uvarov]] theory of generalized [[hypergeometric differential equation]], used to solve the [[Schrödinger equation]] and to obtain the quantization of energies from a single unified point of view. This [[theory]] is developed and is also used to give a uniform approach to the theory of [[special functions]]. This study furthers to connect the modern studies of [[pure mathematics]] with [[physics]].
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| == Bibliography ==
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| Notable works of Floyd Williams include:
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| *Floyd L. Williams. ''Topics in Quantum Mechanisms'', (Progress in Mathematical Physics, Birkhauser, 2003)
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| *Floyd L. Williams. ''Lectures on the spectrum of <math>L^2(\Gamma \backslash G)</math>'', (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1991)
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| *Andrei A. Bytsenko and Floyd L. Williams (Editors). ''Mathematical Methods in Physics'', (Proceeding of the 1999 Londrina Winter School, World Scientific Pub., 2000)
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| *Floyd L. Williams. ''Tensor products of principal series representations: Representations of complex semisimple Lie groups'', (Lecture Notes in Mathematics, Vol. 358. Springer-Verlag, Berlin-New York, 1973)
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| He had written Four Books and 40 Written papers.
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| ==External links==
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| *[http://www.math.umass.edu/Directory/personal.html?email=williams Floyd Williams' Homepage]
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| *[http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/williams_floydl.html Mathematicians of the African Diaspora]
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| *[http://www.maa.org/summa/archive/Willm_FL.htm SUMMA Archive]
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| {{Authority control|VIAF=76846400}}
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| {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
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| | NAME = Williams, Floyd
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| | ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
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| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American mathematician
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| | DATE OF BIRTH = September 20, 1939
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| | PLACE OF BIRTH =
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| | DATE OF DEATH =
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| | PLACE OF DEATH =
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| }}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Floyd}}
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| [[Category:1939 births]]
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| [[Category:Living people]]
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| [[Category:Washington University in St. Louis alumni]]
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| [[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty]]
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| [[Category:American mathematicians]]
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| [[Category:Fellows of the American Mathematical Society]]
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Hi there. Let me begin by introducing the author, her title is Myrtle Cleary. Doing ceramics is what love doing. Bookkeeping is what I do. Puerto Rico is exactly where he and his spouse reside.
my homepage :: www.buzzbit.net