James A. Isenberg

James A. Isenberg (born 1951) is an American theoretical physicist and mathematician, professor emeritus at the University of Oregon.

James A. Isenberg

Professor Emeritus
Occupation(s)Mathematician
Physicist
TitleProfessor of Mathematics
AwardsAmerican Physical Society Fellow
American Mathematical Society Fellow
Academic background
Education1973 A.B. in physics, Princeton University
1979 Ph.D. in physics, University of Maryland
ThesisConstruction of Spacetimes from Initial Data (1979)
Doctoral advisorCharles Misner

Personal life and education

Isenberg was born in 1951. He became an Eagle Scout in 1966,[1] and in 1969 graduated from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.[2]

When he ran the Boston Marathon at age 18, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported he "is 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 95 pounds and looks about 13."[3][4] He wore his birth certificate pinned to his jersey to prove his age.[3] Isenberg says he has "completed 143 marathons, including 30 Boston Marathons."[5]

At Princeton University he graduated with an A.B. in physics in 1973. He was a graduate student under Charles Misner at the University of Maryland, and he earned Ph.D. in physics in 1979, with his dissertation, Construction of Spacetimes from Initial Data.[6]

In Australia in 2017, Isenberg was standing in the ocean when a wave knocked him over, injuring his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. He has been recovering with therapy at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia.[5] In 2019 at the Princeton alumni parade, he "led his class down the route in a wheelchair".[7]

Isenberg lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with his wife, economist Pauline Kennedy.[5]

Career

Isenberg is one of the pioneers in the study of the constraint equations in classical general relativity.[8] His many important contributions include the completion of the solution theory of the constraint equations on closed manifolds with constant mean curvature,[9] and with his collaborators, the first nontrivial results on the non-constant mean curvature case.[10]

From 1973 to 1979, Isenberg held positions in the physics department at the University of Maryland. Between 1979 and 1982 he held a postdoctoral fellow positions in the applied mathematics department of the University of Waterloo and the mathematics department at the University of California, Berkeley.[2]

Isenberg joined the mathematics department faculty at the University of Oregon in 1982 and in 2021 became a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Oregon.[11]

Recognition

Isenberg was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2000, cite "For his pioneering work on global issues in general relativity and for his contributions to the field."[12]

He was named to the 2021 class of fellows of the American Mathematical Society "for contributions to mathematical general relativity and geometry flows".[13]

Selected works
  • The Ricci Flow: Techniques and Applications: Part IV: Long-Time Solutions and Related Topics, American Math Society, (2015)
  • Isenberg, J. (1995). "Constant mean curvature solution of the Einstein constraint equations on closed manifold". Class. Quantum Grav. 12 (9): 2249–2274. Bibcode:1995CQGra..12.2249I. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/12/9/013.

References
  1. "3 Scouts to Get Eagle Awards at Jewish Center Program". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News. 1966-02-09. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  2. "James A. Isenberg Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). uoregon.edu. 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  3. "26-Mile Runner, 18, Had to Prove His Age". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1969-05-01. p. 81. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  4. "Runner Wears Birth Certificate". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1969-05-01. p. 83. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  5. "Jim Isenberg's story". Magee Rehabilitation. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  6. James A. Isenberg at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  7. "Reunited!". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  8. Isenberg, James (1995). "Constant mean curvature solutions of the Einstein constraint equations on closed manifolds". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 12 (9): 2249–2274. Bibcode:1995CQGra..12.2249I. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/12/9/013. ISSN 0264-9381.
  9. Isenberg, James (1995). "Constant mean curvature solutions of the Einstein constraint equations on closed manifolds". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 12 (9): 2249–2274. Bibcode:1995CQGra..12.2249I. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/12/9/013. ISSN 0264-9381.
  10. Isenberg, James; Moncrief, Vincent (1994), Flato, M.; Kerner, R.; Lichnerowicz, A. (eds.), "Some Results on non Constant Mean Curvature Solutions of the Einstein Constraint Equations", Physics on Manifolds: Proceedings of the International Colloquium in honour of Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat, Paris, June 3–5, 1992, Mathematical Physics Studies, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 295–302, doi:10.1007/978-94-011-1938-2_21, ISBN 978-94-011-1938-2
  11. "Jim Isenberg named American Mathematical Society fellow | Institute for Fundamental Science". ifs.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  12. "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  13. 2021 Class of Fellows of the AMS, American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2020-11-02
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