Jan van Mill

Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences
Vrije Universiteit
De Boelelaan 1081A
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Phone: +31 20 5987688
Fax: +31 20 5987653
Email: vanmill@cs.vu.nl
Secretary: +31 20 5987700

Professor
of
Mathematics

Research interests: Infinite-dimensional topology, geometric topology, set theoretic topology, set theory, measure theory, functional analysis, geometry of Banach spaces

The well-known Russian topologist A. V. Arhangel'skii once described topology as `the science of infinite closeness without distance'. This seemingly unclear formulation describes exactly what the essence of topology really is. Topology studies general properties of closeness, without wanting to measure distances. The internationally renowned Dutch mathematician and intuitionist L.E.J. Brouwer (1881-1966) was one of the trail-blazers of the new subject of topology both nationally and internationally. He solved one of the most fundamental problems of his days: the plane and three-space are topologically really different (as are all finite powers of the real line). This he proved with the aid of his famous Fixed-Point Theorem which one can interpret that after stirring a cup of coffee not too wildly at least one molecule will be at it original position. Another striking example from Brouwer's work are the Lakes of Wada: three lakes on an island that share one and only one border.
Topology is being studied all over the world. Present-day topology covers a wide range of sub-disciplines: from set-theoretic and general topology via topological dynamics, continuum theory and dimension theory to geometric and algebraic topology. Here at the Vrije Universiteit the topologists work mostly in infinite-dimensional and related topology, dimension theory, general topology and set-theoretic topology.

Publications	Boards	Teaching	Links
Books Papers 0 -- 1998 Papers 1999 -- ??? Miscellaneous Preprints	Topology and its Applications Fundamenta Mathematicae Tbilisi Mathematical Journal (If you are thinking of submitting a paper to either of these journals, click here.) Questions and Answers in General Topology	Graduate courses Topologie I Topologie II Wiskundige Analyse Dynamische Systemen Master's Program Seminar	American Math. Soc. Kon. Wisk. Genootschap Pythagoras Topology Atlas Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde Stieltjes Institute Vierkant voor Wiskunde

Remarks to vanmill@cs.vu.nl

Jan van Mill

Professor of Mathematics

Research interests: Infinite-dimensional topology, geometric topology, set theoretic topology, set theory, measure theory, functional analysis, geometry of Banach spaces

Publications

Boards

Teaching

Links

Professor
of
Mathematics