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{{Short description|British mathematician (1944–1970)}}
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'''Rollo Davidson''' (b. [[Bristol]], 8 October 1944, d. [[Piz Bernina]], 29 July 1970) was a [[probabilist]], [[alpinist]], and [[Fellow#Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin|Fellow-elect]] of [[Churchill College, Cambridge]] who died aged 35 on [[Piz Bernina]].
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
⚫
'''Rollo Davidson''' (b. [[Bristol]], 8 October 1944, d. [[Piz Bernina]], 29 July 1970) was a [[probability theory|probabilist]], [[alpinist]], and [[Fellow#Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin|Fellow-elect]] of [[Churchill College, Cambridge]], who died aged 25 on [[Piz Bernina]]. He is known for his work on [[semigroup]]s, [[stochastic geometry]], and [[stochastic analysis]],<ref name="obit"/> and for the [[Rollo Davidson Prize]], given in his name to early-career probabilists.


==Life==
⚫
In 1975 a fund was established at Churchill College in his memory, endowed initially through the publication in his honour of two volumes<ref>[http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/Rollo/volumes.html Rollo Davidson Volumes]</ref> of papers, edited by E. F. Harding and [[David George Kendall|D. G. Kendall]].<ref>[http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/Rollo/index.html Rollo Davidson Trust]</ref> A prize from the [[Rollo Davidson Prize|Rollo Davidson Trust Fund]] has been awarded annually since 1976 to young [[probabilists]].<ref>[http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/Rollo/award.html Rollo Davidson Awards]</ref>
At the time of Davidson's birth, his parents lived in The Chantry, [[Thornbury, Gloucestershire]]. His mother was Priscilla (née Chilver); his father, Brian Davidson, won a prize at Oxford for his study of classics, was president of the [[Oxford Union]], and worked as a solicitor before becoming an executive with the [[Bristol Aeroplane Company]].<ref>[http://sms.thornburyroots.co.uk/CS%20Chantry%20later.htm The Chantry: The Later History], Thornbury Roots. Retrieved 26 March 2015.</ref> Rollo Davidson attended [[Winchester College]] before studying mathematics at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], from 1962 and becoming a research fellow there in 1967.<ref name=obit>[http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/Rollo/obituary.html Rollo Davidson: 1944–1970] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218211816/http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/Rollo/obituary.html |date=18 February 2012 }}. Reprinted from {{harvtxt|Kendall|Harding|1973}} pp. 449–452 and {{harvtxt|Harding|Kendall|1974}} pp. 381–384.</ref> He completed his PhD in 1968, under the supervision of [[David George Kendall]].<ref>{{mathgenealogy|id=101366}}</ref> He continued at Cambridge as assistant lecturer, lecturer, and in 1970 fellow-elect. He died in a [[mountain climbing]] accident in 1970.<ref name=obit/>


==Contributions==
Davidson attended [[Winchester College]] before studying mathematics at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] from 1962 and becoming a research fellow there in 1967.<ref>[http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/Rollo/obituary.html Obituary]</ref>
In [[stochastic geometry]], Davidson is known for introducing the study of line processes, which he modelled as [[point process]]es on spaces of parameters of lines.<ref>{{citation
| last = Ripley | first = B. D.
| issue = 6
| journal = The Annals of Probability
| jstor = 2242958
| mr = 0474454
| pages = 995–998
| title = The foundations of stochastic geometry
| volume = 4
| year = 1976
| doi=10.1214/aop/1176995942| doi-access = free
}}.</ref> The second winner of the Rollo Davidson Prize, [[Olav Kallenberg]], won the prize for settling (negatively) a conjecture on line processes posed by Davidson in his thesis.<ref>{{citation
| last = Kallenberg | first = Olav
| doi = 10.1017/S0305004100053949
| issue = 2
| journal = Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
| mr = 0451399
| pages = 301–307
| title = A counterexample to R. Davidson's conjecture on line processes
| volume = 82
| year = 1977| bibcode = 1977MPCPS..82..301K
}}.</ref>

In [[stochastic analysis]], also, Davidson has been described as a "remarkably original mathematician" who left a legacy of "tantalising unsolved problems".<ref>{{citation
| last = Kingman | first = J. F. C.
| department = Stochastic methods and their applications
| doi = 10.1239/jap/1082552209
| journal = Journal of Applied Probability
| jstor = 3215987
| mr = 2057584
| pages = 333–346
| title = Extremal problems for regenerative phenomena
| volume = 41A
| year = 2004| s2cid = 123576712
}}.</ref> He particularly studied Delphic semigroups, a class of [[topological semigroup]]s introduced by his advisor to study [[Renewal theory|renewal sequences]];<ref>{{citation
| last = Kendall | first = David G.
| doi = 10.1090/S0002-9904-1967-11673-2
| journal = Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society
| mr = 0203767
| pages = 120–121
| title = Delphic semigroups
| volume = 73
| year = 1967| doi-access = free
}}.</ref> {{harvtxt|Ruzsa|Székely|1988}} write that, despite the many applications of these semigroups, Davidson was "the only one to contribute seriously to Delphic theory" after Kendall, and that "his untimely death certainly deprived this theory of interesting developments".<ref>{{citation
| last1 = Ruzsa | first1 = Imre Z. | author1-link = Imre Z. Ruzsa
| last2 = Székely | first2 = Gábor J. | author2-link = Gábor J. Székely
| isbn = 0-471-91803-2
| location = Chichester
| mr = 974112
| page = 61
| publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
| series = Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics: Probability and Mathematical Statistics
| title = Algebraic probability theory
| year = 1988}}.</ref>

==Legacy==
⚫
In 1975 a fund was established at Churchill College in his memory, endowed initially through the publication in his honour of two volumes<ref>{{harvtxt|Kendall|Harding|1973}}; {{harvtxt|Harding|Kendall|1974}}</ref> of papers, edited by E. F. Harding and D. G. Kendall.<ref>[https://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/rollo-davidson-trust Rollo Davidson Trust]</ref> A [[Rollo Davidson Prize|prize from the Rollo Davidson Trust Fund]] has been awarded annually since 1976 to early-career probabilists.<ref>[https://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/rollo-davidson-awards-1976-2021 Rollo Davidson Awards 1976 - 2021]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Jacques Herbrand]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
<references/>


==Further reading==
*{{citation
| last1 = Kendall | first1 = D. G.
| last2 = Harding | first2 = E. F.
| location = London-New York-Sydney
| mr = 0350791
| publisher = John Wiley & Sons
| series = Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics
| title = Stochastic Analysis: A tribute to the memory of Rollo Davidson
| year = 1973}}.
*{{citation
| last1 = Harding | first1 = E. F.
| last2 = Kendall | first2 = D. G.
| location = London-New York-Sydney
| mr = 0350792
| publisher = John Wiley & Sons
| series = Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics
| title = Stochastic Geometry: A tribute to the memory of Rollo Davidson
| year = 1974}}.

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Rollo}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Rollo}}
[[Category:Probability theorists]]
[[Category:Probability theorists]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bristol]]
[[Category:Scientists from Bristol]]
[[Category:Old Wykehamists]]
[[Category:People educated at Winchester College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Churchill College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Churchill College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Mountaineering deaths]]
[[Category:Mountaineering deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English mathematicians]]

[[Category:Deaths on Mont Blanc]]
{{UK-mathematician-stub}}
[[Category:Sport deaths in Switzerland]]

Latest revision as of 00:33, 25 August 2024

Rollo Davidson (b. Bristol, 8 October 1944, d. Piz Bernina, 29 July 1970) was a probabilist, alpinist, and Fellow-elect of Churchill College, Cambridge, who died aged 25 on Piz Bernina. He is known for his work on semigroups, stochastic geometry, and stochastic analysis,[1] and for the Rollo Davidson Prize, given in his name to early-career probabilists.

Life

[edit]

At the time of Davidson's birth, his parents lived in The Chantry, Thornbury, Gloucestershire. His mother was Priscilla (née Chilver); his father, Brian Davidson, won a prize at Oxford for his study of classics, was president of the Oxford Union, and worked as a solicitor before becoming an executive with the Bristol Aeroplane Company.[2] Rollo Davidson attended Winchester College before studying mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1962 and becoming a research fellow there in 1967.[1] He completed his PhD in 1968, under the supervision of David George Kendall.[3] He continued at Cambridge as assistant lecturer, lecturer, and in 1970 fellow-elect. He died in a mountain climbing accident in 1970.[1]

Contributions

[edit]

In stochastic geometry, Davidson is known for introducing the study of line processes, which he modelled as point processes on spaces of parameters of lines.[4] The second winner of the Rollo Davidson Prize, Olav Kallenberg, won the prize for settling (negatively) a conjecture on line processes posed by Davidson in his thesis.[5]

In stochastic analysis, also, Davidson has been described as a "remarkably original mathematician" who left a legacy of "tantalising unsolved problems".[6] He particularly studied Delphic semigroups, a class of topological semigroups introduced by his advisor to study renewal sequences;[7] Ruzsa & Székely (1988) write that, despite the many applications of these semigroups, Davidson was "the only one to contribute seriously to Delphic theory" after Kendall, and that "his untimely death certainly deprived this theory of interesting developments".[8]

Legacy

[edit]

In 1975 a fund was established at Churchill College in his memory, endowed initially through the publication in his honour of two volumes[9] of papers, edited by E. F. Harding and D. G. Kendall.[10] A prize from the Rollo Davidson Trust Fund has been awarded annually since 1976 to early-career probabilists.[11]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Rollo Davidson: 1944–1970 Archived 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Reprinted from Kendall & Harding (1973) pp. 449–452 and Harding & Kendall (1974) pp. 381–384.
  2. ^ The Chantry: The Later History, Thornbury Roots. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. ^ Rollo Davidson at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. ^ Ripley, B. D. (1976), "The foundations of stochastic geometry", The Annals of Probability, 4 (6): 995–998, doi:10.1214/aop/1176995942, JSTOR 2242958, MR 0474454.
  5. ^ Kallenberg, Olav (1977), "A counterexample to R. Davidson's conjecture on line processes", Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 82 (2): 301–307, Bibcode:1977MPCPS..82..301K, doi:10.1017/S0305004100053949, MR 0451399.
  6. ^ Kingman, J. F. C. (2004), "Extremal problems for regenerative phenomena", Stochastic methods and their applications, Journal of Applied Probability, 41A: 333–346, doi:10.1239/jap/1082552209, JSTOR 3215987, MR 2057584, S2CID 123576712.
  7. ^ Kendall, David G. (1967), "Delphic semigroups", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 73: 120–121, doi:10.1090/S0002-9904-1967-11673-2, MR 0203767.
  8. ^ Ruzsa, Imre Z.; Székely, Gábor J. (1988), Algebraic probability theory, Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics: Probability and Mathematical Statistics, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., p. 61, ISBN 0-471-91803-2, MR 0974112.
  9. ^ Kendall & Harding (1973); Harding & Kendall (1974)
  10. ^ Rollo Davidson Trust
  11. ^ Rollo Davidson Awards 1976 - 2021

Further reading

[edit]
  • Kendall, D. G.; Harding, E. F. (1973), Stochastic Analysis: A tribute to the memory of Rollo Davidson, Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics, London-New York-Sydney: John Wiley & Sons, MR 0350791.
  • Harding, E. F.; Kendall, D. G. (1974), Stochastic Geometry: A tribute to the memory of Rollo Davidson, Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics, London-New York-Sydney: John Wiley & Sons, MR 0350792.
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