A Guide to the Russian Academy of Sciences - University of Texas ...

I. M. Vinogradov invited to his Department of Mathematics some famous scientists as well
as several young bright mathematicians. Among the older members of the
Department were S. N. Bernshtein, B. N. Delone, N. N. Luzin, N. I.
Muskhelishvili, V. I. Smirnov, R. O. Kuz'min, N. S. Koshliakov; the younger
group included N. E. Kochin, S. L. Sobolev, D. K. Faddeev, A. D. Kupradze and
others. Mathematicians from both Leningrad and Moscow became members of the
Department.
At the time when the Institute was founded, its policies and the goals of its activity were
formulated, which are still in effect: the development of the most modern
mathematical theories and their applications; organization of groups of first class
mathematicians to develop jointly the most important scientific directions; the
invitation of gifted young mathematicians to join mathematical research; and the
education of high quality specialists for remote regions of the country and for the
Union Republics.
On April 28, 1934, at the general meeting of the Division of Mathematical and Natural
Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, a decision was made to
transform the Departments of the Steklov Institute of Physics and Mathematics into
independent Institutes, the Steklov Mathematical Institute and the Lebedev Physical
Institute. Ivan Matveevich Vinogradov and Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov became the
Directors of these new founded Institutes. The library of the Institute of Physics
and Mathematics, which consisted mostly of private libraries of several outstanding
Russian scientists, including A. M. Lyapunov, A. A. Markov, V. A. Steklov, was
divided between the Mathematical and the Physics Institutes. In 1934, the Steklov
Mathematical Institute, together with some other institutions of the Academy, was
moved from Leningrad to Moscow.
During 1934-1935, A. O. Gelfond, M. V. Keldysh, (Keldish) M. A. Lavrent'ev, L. A.
Lyusternik, A. A. Lyapunov, K. K. Mardzhanishvili, P. S. Novikov, P. Ya.
Polubarinova-Kochina, L. S. Pontryagin, S. A. Khristianovich, A. L. Shnirelman
and others worked at the Mathematical Institute. Thus, among the members of the
Institute were outstanding mathematicians from both Leningrad and Moscow.
In 1935, the Institute had the following Departments: Number Theory (headed by I. M.
Vinogradov); Algebra (B. N. Delone); Topology and Functional Analysis (L. S.
Pontryagin); Theory of Functions of Real Variables (N. N. Luzin); Theory of
Functions of Complex Variables (M. A. Lavrent'ev); Theory of Differential
Equations (S. L. Sobolev); Theory of Elasticity (N. I. Muskhelishvili); Mechanics
of Continuous Medium (N. E. Kochin); Approximate Methods of Analysis (A. M.
Zhuravskii) .
Thus, already in 1934-1935, an outstanding scientific center was organized with many
researchers known for their deep and important scientific contributions. At the
Institute new scientific schools were originated which brought world-wide fame to
Soviet mathematics.
A rather small but powerful group of the Institute members was very active. I. M.
Vinogradov himself was a very persistent and selfless researcher. With great
inspiration he developed his new method in analytic number theory. This work
culminated when in 1937 he obtained estimates of trigonometric sums over prime
numbers which led to the solution of a large class of additive problems with prime
numbers. I. M. Vinogradov's work was highly appreciated by the international
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