Department of Applied Mathematics was founded in 1947 and originally had the title “Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics”. For a very long time its title has been associated with the names of outstanding scientists.
The organizer and the first Head of the Department was an outstanding mathematician, a specialist in the structural theory of functions, and corresponding member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Naum Il’ich Akhiezer.
He was born in March 1901 in the family of a doctor in Tcherikov (Belorus). After graduation from gymnasium in 1918 he studied mathematics and physics in secondary school.
His scientific activity in the field of approximation theory and aerodynamics started in 1924 when he graduated from Kyiv Institute of Public Education (today – Taras Shevchenko National University). He obtained Ph.D. degree in 1928 and obtained Dr. Sci. degree in physics and mathematics in 1936.
N.I. Akhiezer obtained outstanding results in approximation theory, the problem of moments, the theory of integral equations, and the theory of complex variables. He found the solutions to some difficult problems such as the problem of the polynomial which has minimal deviation on a given interval and simultaneously has some coefficients fixed; the problem of polynomial weight approximation and many others. He also proposed an effective method for solving the spectral analysis inverse problem which can be applied to important ranks of spectral densities. This method had been applied later to obtain the solution of some non-linear equations of mathematical physics in an explicit form.
Since 1934 N.I. Akhiezer worked in Kharkiv State University where he was the Head of the Department of Function Theory. Later he became the Head of the Department of Mathematical Physics and worked there until the rest of his life in 1980. For 25 years he was Chairman of the Kharkiv Mathematical Society.
N.I.Akhiezer worked at Kharkiv Polytechnic University from 1947 to 1955 and was a Head of the Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. He was invited to work here with talented mathematician Glazman I.M. who became the Head of the Department later.
N.I. Akhiezer was an outstanding educational specialist and prominent lecturer. He also was an energetic and charming person with a wide variety of interests.
In 1955 a well-known scientist, excellent mathematician, and wonderful lecturer Israel Markovich Glasman began to manage the Department of Applied Mathematics.
I.M. Glazman was born on December 21 in 1916 in Odessa. As early as childhood, when he was going to a musical school, he showed outstanding abilities. He gained such a level of mastery in playing the violin that was even hesitating over a choice of profession. In 1937 I.M. Glazman graduated from Odessa University. The University was his first place of employment.
In April 1946 I.M. Glazman settled in Kharkiv and started working in the Polytechnic Institute.
The mathematical works of I.M. Glazman have gained common recognition. That can be explained not only by the importance of obtained results but also because of the originality of implemented approaches for task solving. In his Ph.D. thesis (1949) I.M. Glazman built an exhaustive classification of one-dimensional singular boundary problems, using ideas of the theory of operators. This research he systematized in his habilitation work (1958) and also in the monograph “Direct methods of qualitative spectrology calculus of singular differential operators” (1963). The monograph by I.M. Glazman (with the co-author N.I. Akhiezer) “Theory of linear operators in Hilbert Space” is well-known to all mathematicians and it has been translated into many countries of the world (Germany, Great Britain, USA, etc.)
To create a general scientific atmosphere at the Department of Applied Mathematics, Israel Markovich taught lectures regarding questions of applied mathematics for teachers and founded a new scientific seminar on problems of numerical mathematics such as theories of algorithms, correctness, and conditionality of numerical processes, etc.
The life of Israel Markovich was tragically torn off in May 1968, when he was 51. Israel Markovich was an outstanding, enthusiastic man. He combined the clearness of a mathematician and the emotionality of a musician in himself. He was a witty, brilliant interlocutor, charming and responsive man. Such people are memorized for a long time, forever.
Rvachev Vladimir Logvinovich, Academician of Ukraine National Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor, Honorary Doctor of NTU “KPI”, headed the Department of Applied Mathematics in 1969, the 1970s. Later from 1999-2003, he worked as a professor in the same department pluralistically.
The academician Vladimir Logvinovich Rvachev belongs to the galaxy of outstanding scientists of the twentieth century. His name has been included in many encyclopedias. The main scientific discovery, that glorified Rvachev V.L. as a great scientist, is his theory of R-functions and its multiple applications. Hundreds of scientific papers and 17 monographs by V.L.Rvachev confirm the mightiness of this scientist in the field of mathematics and mechanics.
He created a large scientific school. It includes more than 70 Doctors of Philosophy and 20 Doctors of Science. It also includes corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Yu. G Stoyan and Bozhko A.E, and V.F Kravchenko). The winners of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology are Stoyan Yu. G., Procenko V.S., Manko G.P., Sheiko T.I., Sinekop N.S., Slesarenko A.P.; Litvin O.N is a winner of V.M. Glushkov’s and Ostrogradskii’s awards. Many of Rvachev’s pupils have become heads of the departments of the universities of Kharkiv and other cities of Ukraine (Borisenko B.N., Buzko V.P., Verzhikovsky V.N., Goncharyuk I.V., Kozuchov V.D., Kurpa L.V., Kutsenko L.N., Litvin O.N., Procenko V.S., Sinekop N.S., Sirodzha I.B., Fedko V.P., Shabanov – Kushnarenko Ju.P., Sheiko T.I., Shklyarov L.I., Shmatko A.V., etc.)
His contribution to mathematical physics has been highly appreciated by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was awarded by prestigious prize and medal of academician A.N.Dinnik. He was also awarded the title of Honored Scientist and the State Prize in Science and Technology of Ukraine for outstanding contributions to science. The multi-faceted fruitful scientific activity of V.L.Rvachev has been honored by many government awards.
Close cooperation with Vladimir Logvinovich has defined the main scientific direction of the Department of Applied Mathematics in the future. Many members of the Department have used the theory of R-functions in their research and defended their Ph.D. and doctoral thesis (Prof. Kurpa L.V., associate professors: Morachkovskaya I.O., Linnik A.B., Chistilina A.V., Sklepus A.N., Shmatko T.V., Onufrienko O.G., Pilgun G.V., Timchenko G.N., Mazur O.S., Budnikov N.A., Lubitska E.I., etc). Today graduate students and staff of the Department of Applied Mathematics and scientists from many other countries apply the theory of R- functions to solve new problems of mathematics and mechanics.
Since 1971, the Department was headed by former V.L. Rvachev’s student Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Goncharyuk Igor Vsevolodovich.
The years of his childhood and youth were also the most difficult years for our country – the war and postwar time. During World War II he did not study, and after the war, when he was 16, he had to find a job. He worked as a motor mechanic, and driver, and later in 1949 he was called to active duty in the Navy. He served in the Navy until 1960.
Only in 1955, he completed his secondary education, and in 1961 graduated from the Mathematics Department of Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Kaliningrad Pedagogical Institute and then went to Kharkiv.
Here at the Institute of Radio Electronics of Kharkiv, fate brought him to the young professor V.L. Rvachev. At that time, Igor Vselodovich was the Head of the Department of Programming. He took a great interest in the study of the theory of R-functions, and later he developed this theory in the field of application to the solution of problems in mathematical physics, namely, the problem of torsion of bars having complex profiles. This work culminated in the defense of his Ph.D. thesis in 1967.
In 1972 I.V. Goncharyuk defends his doctoral thesis on the topic: ” Development of the R-functions applied to the problems of the elastic, elastic-plastic and plastic deformation piecewise heterogeneous cores complex cross-section”.
I.V. Goncharyuk headed the department for 9 years. In 1979, he went to work at Kharkiv Aviation Institute, where he has become the Head of the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics.
I.V. Goncharyuk is an author of 260 scientific works, and a member of a specialized council for the defense of Ph.D. and Doctoral theses.
Dr. Sci. (Technical sciences), a specialist in the optimization of mechanical systems, Vladimir Borisovich Grinev was the Head of the Department from 1979 until 1990.
In 1969 Vladimir Borisovich graduated with honors from the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute with specialization “Dynamics and Strength of Machines”. The supervisor of his diploma was the famous Academician A.P. Philippov. In 1972 V.B. Grinev obtained his Ph.D. degree for the thesis “Some problems of optimization of deformed elements of constructions”.
When Vladimir Grinev in 1979 took the position of the Head of the Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, he focuses his attention on the development of perspective scientific works of the Department. He created a scientific group working in the field of optimization of constructions, as the main topic of investigation. V.B. Grinev formulated themes of investigations for numerous collaborators, which later were presented as a Ph.D. and Dr. Sci. thesis. In particular, he was a supervisor of the Ph.D. thesis by N.A. Kirillova and V.F. Vasilchenko, who works at present as associate professors at the Applied Mathematics Department.
In 1981 due to changes in the direction of scientific investigations, the Department was renamed. The old title “Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics” has been changed to the new one – “Department of Applied Mathematics”. It was exactly corresponding to the essence and scientific directness of the department.
Main scientific achievements by V.B. Grinev in optimization theory (in application to machine-building) are presented in more than 70 papers, two monographs, named “Optimization of elements of constructions by mechanical characteristics” and “Optimization of rods by a spectrum of eigenvalues” and in his Dr. Sci. Thesis which was defended in 1982.
Vladimir Borisovich Grinev was the Head of the Department for 11 years. During that time principal traditions of the Department were kept, namely: high level of teaching of mathematical courses, and attraction of talented young people to scientific work. With the beginning of “perestroika” in our country, V.B. Grinev was engaged in politics. In 1989 he was elected as the people’s deputy of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic. In 1990 he left the position of the Head of the Department because he was elected to the position of vice-Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic.
From 1995 to 2021, the “Applied Mathematics” department was headed by Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Lidia Vasylivna Kurpa.
In 1990, Lidia Vasylivna Kurpa defended her doctoral thesis on the topic “Creation based on the theory of R-Functions of methods and software for solving the problems of bending, oscillations and stability of thin-walled structural elements of complex shape.”
Under the leadership of L.V. Kurpa, a large methodological and scientific work was organized in the department. During the period 2010-2016, the staff of the department prepared for publication more than 20 methodological manuals and 70 articles and reports at international scientific conferences. Postgraduate studies are open at the department, 5 candidate theses were successfully defended in 2010-16.
L.V. Kurpa is a member of the Specialized Council for the Defense of Candidate and Doctoral Dissertations and a member of the National Council of Ukraine for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
L.V. Kurpa’s scientific interests include the following topics:
- Theory of R-Functions;
- Development of methods for solving linear and geometrically nonlinear problems of bending and oscillations of multilayer flat shells and plates with a complex plan shape;
In 2021 Vyacheslav Burlayenko has become the Head of the Department. You can find more information about him on the corresponding web page.
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