Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet was a German mathematician who lived from 1805 to 1859 and made transformative contributions across number theory, analysis and mathematical physics. In number theory he proved special cases of Fermat Last Theorem and created the field of analytic number theory. He also advanced the theory of Fourier series and was among the first to give the modern formal definition of a function, and his work in mathematical physics addressed potential theory, heat diffusion and hydrodynamics.
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Notable WorkVorlesungen über Zahlentheorie 2 Field
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1. Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (Wikipedia)
- Wikipedia 'Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet': stated occupation/field in article intro, checked 2026-09-27
Works In: Mathematics, Lead sentence
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (; ; 13 February 1805-5 May 1859) was a German mathematician.
View the Source2. Dirichlet - MacTutor
Biography header, Born line
Born 13 February 1805 Düren, French Empire (now Germany)
Biography header, Died line
Died 5 May 1859 Göttingen, Hanover (now Germany)
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Lejeune Dirichlet is best known for his proof that in any arithmetic progression with first term coprime to the difference there are infinitely many primes.
Biography text, work on units and ideals
His work on units in algebraic number theory _Vorlesungen über Zahlentheorie_ Ⓣ(published 1863) contains important work on ideals.
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