Tan Lei (Chinese: 谭蕾; 18 March 1963 – 1 April 2016) was a mathematician specialising in complex dynamics and functions of complex numbers. She is most well-known for her contributions to the study of the Mandelbrot set and Julia set.[1]
Tan Lei 谭蕾 | |
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Born | |
Died | 1 April 2016 | (aged 53)
Nationality | Chinese |
Education | Wuhan University (BA) University of Paris-Sud, Orsay (MA) University of Paris-Sud, Orsay (PhD) |
Spouse | Hans Henrik Rugh |
Children | 2 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mathematics |
Thesis | Accouplements des polynômes quadratiques complexes (1986) |
Doctoral advisor | Adrien Douady |
Website | www |
After gaining her PhD in Mathematics in 1986 at University of Paris-Sud, Orsay, Tan worked as an assistant researcher in Geneva. She then conducted postdoctoral projects at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics and University of Bremen until 1989, when she was made a lecturer at Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon in France. Tan held a research position at University of Warwick from 1995 to 1999, before becoming a senior lecturer at Cergy-Pontoise University. She was made professor at University of Angers in 2009.[2]
Tan obtained important results about the Julia and Mandelbrot sets, in particular investigating their fractality and the similarities between the two.[pub 1] For example she showed that at the Misiurewicz points these sets are asymptotically similar through scaling and rotation.[pub 2] She constructed examples of polynomials whose Julia sets are homeomorphic to the Sierpiński carpet[pub 3] and which are disconnected.[pub 4] She contributed to other areas of complex dynamics.[pub 5][pub 6] She also wrote some surveys and popularisation work around her research topics.[pub 7][pub 8]
A conference in Tan's memory was held in Beijing, China, in May 2016.[3]