Editing Henri Lebesgue

{{Short description|French mathematician}}
{{For|the number theorist|Victor-Amédée Lebesgue}}
{{Distinguish|text=the French palaeographer [[Henri Lebègue]] }}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Henri Lebesgue
|image             = Lebesgue 2.jpeg
|caption           =
|birth_date        = {{birth date|1875|06|28|mf=y}}
|birth_place       = [[Beauvais]], [[Oise]], [[French Third Republic|France]]
|death_date        = {{death date and age|1941|07|26|1875|06|28|mf=y}}
|death_place       = [[Paris]], [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|France]]
|nationality       = [[France|French]]
|field             = [[Mathematics]]
|work_institutions = [[University of Rennes]]<br/>[[University of Poitiers]]<br/>[[University of Paris]]<br/>[[Collège de France]]
|alma_mater        = [[École Normale Supérieure]]<br/>[[University of Paris]]
|doctoral_advisor  = [[Émile Borel]]
|doctoral_students = [[Paul Montel]]<br>[[Zygmunt Janiszewski]]<br>[[Georges de Rham]]
|known_for         = [[Lebesgue integration]]<br>[[Lebesgue measure]]
|prizes            = [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Burkill | first1 = J. C. | author-link = John Charles Burkill| title = Henri Lebesgue. 1875-1941 | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1944.0001 | journal = [[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 4 | issue = 13 | pages = 483–490 | year = 1944 | jstor = 768841| s2cid = 122854745 }}</ref><br>[[Poncelet Prize]] for 1914<ref>{{cite journal|title=Prizes Awarded by the Paris Academy of Sciences for 1914|date=7 January 1915|journal=Nature|volume=94|issue=2358|pages=518–519|doi=10.1038/094518a0|doi-access=free}}</ref>
}}
'''Henri Léon Lebesgue''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Foreign Member of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]]}}<ref name="frs"/> ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|b|ɛ|g}};<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/lebesgue "Lebesgue"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{IPA|fr|ɑ̃ʁi leɔ̃ ləbɛɡ|lang}}; June 28, 1875 – July 26, 1941) was a French mathematician known for his [[Lebesgue integration|theory of integration]], which was a generalization of the 17th-century concept of integration—summing the area between an axis and the curve of a function defined for that axis. His theory was published originally in his dissertation ''Intégrale, longueur, aire'' ("Integral, length, area") at the [[University of Nancy]] during 1902.<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=86693}}</ref><ref>{{MacTutor Biography|id=Lebesgue}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Henri Lebesgue was born on 28 June 1875 in [[Beauvais]], [[Oise]]. Lebesgue's father was a [[typesetting|typesetter]] and his mother was a school [[teacher]]. His parents assembled at home a library that the young Henri was able to use. His father died of [[tuberculosis]] when Lebesgue was still very young and his mother had to support him by herself. As he showed a remarkable talent for mathematics in primary school, one of his instructors arranged for community support to continue his education at the [[Collège de Beauvais]] and then at [[Lycée Saint-Louis]] and [[Lycée Louis-le-Grand]] in [[Paris]].<ref name=Hawking>{{cite book |last1=Hawking |first1=Stephen W. |author-link1=Stephen Hawking |title= God created the integers: the mathematical breakthroughs that changed history |year=2005 |publisher=Running Press|isbn=978-0-7624-1922-7 |pages=1041–87 }}</ref>

In 1894, Lebesgue was accepted at the [[École Normale Supérieure]], where he continued to focus his energy on the study of mathematics, graduating in 1897. After graduation he remained at the École Normale Supérieure for two years, working in the library, where he became aware of the research on [[discontinuity (mathematics)|discontinuity]] done at that time by [[René-Louis Baire]], a recent graduate of the school. At the same time he started his graduate studies at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], where he learned about [[Émile Borel]]'s work on the incipient [[measure theory]] and [[Camille Jordan]]'s work on the [[Jordan measure]]. In 1899 he moved to a teaching position at the Lycée Central in [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], while continuing work on his doctorate. In 1902 he earned his [[PhD]] from the Sorbonne with the seminal thesis on "Integral, Length, Area", submitted with Borel, four years older, as advisor.<ref name=McElroy>{{cite book |last1=McElroy |first1=Tucker |title=A to Z of mathematicians |url=https://archive.org/details/tozofmathematici0000mcel/page/164 |year=2005 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-5338-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/tozofmathematici0000mcel/page/164 164] }}</ref>

Lebesgue married the sister of one of his fellow students, and he and his wife had two children, Suzanne and Jacques.

After publishing his thesis, Lebesgue was offered in 1902 a position at the [[University of Rennes]], lecturing there until 1906, when he moved to the Faculty of Sciences of the [[University of Poitiers]]. In 1910 Lebesgue moved to the Sorbonne as a [[maître de conférences]], being promoted to professor starting in 1919. In 1921 he left the Sorbonne to become professor of mathematics at the [[Collège de France]], where he lectured and did research for the rest of his life.<ref name='Perrin'>{{cite book |last1=Perrin |first1=Louis |editor1-first=François |editor1-last=Le Lionnais |title= Great Currents of Mathematical Thought |edition=2nd |volume=1 |year=2004 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=978-0-486-49578-1 |chapter= Henri Lebesgue: Renewer of Modern Analysis }}</ref> In 1922 he was elected a member of the [[Académie des Sciences]]. Henri Lebesgue died on 26 July 1941 in [[Paris]].<ref name=McElroy/>

==Mathematical career==
[[File:Lebesgue - Leçons sur l'integration et la recherche des fonctions primitives, 1904 - 3900788.tif|thumb|''Leçons sur l'integration et la recherche des fonctions primitives'', 1904]]
Lebesgue's first paper was published in 1898 and was titled "Sur l'approximation des fonctions". It dealt with [[Weierstrass]]'s theorem on approximation to continuous functions by polynomials. Between March 1899 and April 1901 Lebesgue published six notes in ''[[Comptes Rendus]].'' The first of these, unrelated to his development of Lebesgue integration, dealt with the extension of [[Baire's theorem]] to functions of two variables. The next five dealt with surfaces applicable to a plane, the area of skew [[polygons]], [[surface integral]]s of minimum area with a given bound, and the final note gave the definition of Lebesgue integration for some function f(x). Lebesgue's great thesis, ''Intégrale, longueur, aire'', with the full account of this work, appeared in the Annali di Matematica in 1902. The first chapter develops the theory of measure (see [[Borel measure]]). In the second chapter he defines the integral both geometrically and analytically. The next chapters expand the ''Comptes Rendus'' notes dealing with length, area and applicable surfaces. The final chapter deals mainly with [[Plateau's problem]]. This dissertation is considered to be one of the finest ever written by a mathematician.<ref name="frs"/>

His lectures from 1902 to 1903 were collected into a "[[Émile Borel|Borel]] tract" ''Leçons sur l'intégration et la recherche des fonctions primitives''. The problem of integration regarded as the search for a primitive function is the keynote of the book. Lebesgue presents the problem of integration in its historical context, addressing [[Augustin-Louis Cauchy]], [[Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet]], and [[Bernhard Riemann]]. Lebesgue presents six conditions which it is desirable that the integral should satisfy, the last of which is "If the sequence f<sub>n</sub>(x) increases to the limit f(x), the integral of f<sub>n</sub>(x) tends to the integral of f(x)." Lebesgue shows that his conditions lead to the [[measure theory|theory of measure]] and [[measurable function]]s and the analytical and geometrical definitions of the integral.

He turned next to [[trigonometry|trigonometric]] functions with his 1903 paper "Sur les séries trigonométriques". He presented three major theorems in this work: that a trigonometrical series representing a bounded function is a Fourier series, that the n<sup>th</sup> Fourier coefficient tends to zero (the [[Riemann–Lebesgue lemma]]), and that a [[Fourier series]] is integrable term by term. In 1904-1905 Lebesgue lectured once again at the [[Collège de France]], this time on trigonometrical series and he went on to publish his lectures in another of the "Borel tracts". In this tract he once again treats the subject in its historical context. He expounds on Fourier series, Cantor-Riemann theory, the [[Poisson integral]] and the [[Dirichlet problem]].

In a 1910 paper, "Représentation trigonométrique approchée des fonctions satisfaisant a une condition de Lipschitz" deals with the Fourier series of functions satisfying a [[Lipschitz condition]], with an evaluation of the order of magnitude of the remainder term. He also proves that the [[Riemann–Lebesgue lemma]] is a best possible result for continuous functions, and gives some treatment to [[Lebesgue constant]]s.

Lebesgue once wrote, "Réduites à des théories générales, les mathématiques seraient une belle forme sans contenu." ("Reduced to general theories, mathematics would be a beautiful form without content.")

In measure-theoretic analysis and related branches of mathematics, the [[Lebesgue–Stieltjes integral]] generalizes Riemann–Stieltjes and Lebesgue integration, preserving the many advantages of the latter in a more general measure-theoretic framework.

During the course of his career, Lebesgue also made forays into the realms of [[complex analysis]] and [[topology]]. He also had a disagreement with [[Émile Borel]] about whose integral was more general.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pesin|first=Ivan N.| title=Classical and Modern Integration Theories| year=2014| page=94|publisher=[[Academic Press]]|editor1-last=Birnbaum|editor1-first=Z. W.|editor2-last=Lukacs|editor2-first=E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vr7iBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA94|quote=Borel's assertion that his integral was more general compared to Lebesgue's integral was the cause of the dispute between Borel and Lebesgue in the pages of ''Annales de l'École Supérieure'' '''35''' (1918), '''36''' (1919), '''37''' (1920)|isbn=9781483268699}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lebesgue|first=Henri|title=Remarques sur les théories de la mesure et de l'intégration|journal= Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure|year=1918|volume=35|pages=191–250|doi=10.24033/asens.707|url=http://archive.numdam.org/article/ASENS_1918_3_35__191_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916213656/http://archive.numdam.org/article/ASENS_1918_3_35__191_0.pdf |archive-date=2009-09-16 |url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Borel|first=Émile|title=L'intégration des fonctions non bornées|journal= Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure|year=1919|volume=36|pages=71–92|doi=10.24033/asens.713|url=http://archive.numdam.org/article/ASENS_1919_3_36__71_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805233602/http://archive.numdam.org/article/ASENS_1919_3_36__71_0.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-05 |url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lebesgue|first=Henri|title=Sur une définition due à M. Borel (lettre à M. le Directeur des Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure)|journal= Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure|year=1920|volume=37|pages=255–257|doi=10.24033/asens.725|url=http://archive.numdam.org/article/ASENS_1920_3_37__255_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916213617/http://archive.numdam.org/article/ASENS_1920_3_37__255_0.pdf |archive-date=2009-09-16 |url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, these minor forays pale in comparison to his contributions to [[real analysis]]; his contributions to this field had a tremendous impact on the shape of the field today and his methods have become an essential part of modern analysis. These have important practical implications for fundamental physics of which Lebesgue would have been completely unaware, as noted below.

==Lebesgue's theory of integration==
[[File:Riemann.gif|thumb|Approximation of the Riemann integral by rectangular areas]]

{{hatnote|This is a historical overview. For a technical mathematical treatment, see ''[[Lebesgue integration]]''.}}

[[integral|Integration]] is a mathematical operation that corresponds to the informal idea of finding the [[area]] under the [[graph (function)|graph]] of a [[function (mathematics)|function]]. The first theory of integration was developed by [[Archimedes]] in the 3rd century BC with his method of [[Quadrature (geometry)|quadratures]], but this could be applied only in limited circumstances with a high degree of geometric symmetry. In the 17th century, [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz|Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] discovered the idea that integration was intrinsically linked to [[derivative|differentiation]], the latter being a way of measuring how quickly a function changed at any given point on the graph. This surprising relationship between two major geometric operations in calculus, differentiation and integration, is now known as the [[fundamental theorem of calculus]]. It has allowed mathematicians to calculate a broad class of integrals for the first time. However, unlike Archimedes' method, which was based on [[Euclidean geometry]], mathematicians felt that Newton's and Leibniz's [[integral calculus]] did not have a rigorous foundation.

The mathematical notion of [[Limit of a function|limit]] and the closely related notion of [[Limit of a sequence|convergence]] are central to any modern definition of integration. In the 19th century, [[Karl Weierstrass]] developed the rigorous epsilon-delta definition of a limit, which is still accepted and used by mathematicians today. He built on previous but non-rigorous work by [[Augustin Cauchy]], who had used the non-standard notion of [[Infinitesimal|infinitesimally small numbers]], today rejected in standard [[mathematical analysis]]. Before Cauchy, [[Bernard Bolzano]] had laid the fundamental groundwork of the epsilon-delta definition. See [[Limit of a function#History|here]] for more.

[[Bernhard Riemann]] followed up on this by formalizing what is now called the [[Riemann integral]]. To define this integral, one fills the area under the graph with smaller and smaller [[rectangle]]s and takes the limit of the [[summation|sums]] of the areas of the rectangles at each stage. For some functions, however, the total area of these rectangles does not approach a single number. Thus, they have no Riemann integral.

Lebesgue invented a new method of integration to solve this problem. Instead of using the areas of rectangles, which put the focus on the [[domain (function)|domain]] of the function, Lebesgue looked at the [[codomain]] of the function for his fundamental unit of area. Lebesgue's idea was to first define measure, for both sets and functions on those sets. He then proceeded to build the integral for what he called [[simple function]]s; measurable functions that take only [[finite set|finitely]] many values. Then he defined it for more complicated functions as the [[supremum|least upper bound]] of all the integrals of simple functions smaller than the function in question.

Lebesgue integration has the property that every function defined over a bounded interval with a Riemann integral also has a Lebesgue integral, and for those functions the two integrals agree. Furthermore, every bounded function on a closed bounded interval has a Lebesgue integral and there are many functions with a Lebesgue integral that have no Riemann integral.

As part of the development of Lebesgue integration, Lebesgue invented the concept of [[Lebesgue measure|measure]], which extends the idea of [[length]] from intervals to a very large class of sets, called measurable sets (so, more precisely, [[simple function]]s are functions that take a finite number of values, and each value is taken on a measurable set).
Lebesgue's technique for turning a [[measure (mathematics)|measure]] into an integral generalises easily to many other situations, leading to the modern field of [[measure theory]].

The Lebesgue integral is deficient in one respect. The Riemann integral generalises to the [[improper Riemann integral]] to measure functions whose domain of definition is not a [[closed interval]]. The Lebesgue integral integrates many of these functions (always reproducing the same answer when it does), but not all of them. For functions on the real line, the [[Henstock integral]] is an even more general notion of integral (based on Riemann's theory rather than Lebesgue's) that subsumes both Lebesgue integration and improper Riemann integration. However, the Henstock integral depends on specific ordering features of the [[real line]] and so does not generalise to allow integration in more general spaces (say, [[manifold]]s), while the Lebesgue integral extends to such spaces quite naturally.

===Implications for statistical mechanics===
	
In 1947 [[Norbert Wiener]] claimed that the Lebesgue integral had unexpected but important implications in establishing the validity of [[Willard Gibbs]]' work on the foundations of statistical mechanics.<ref>Weiner, N., ''[[Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine]]'' pp47-56 </ref> The notions of ''average'' and ''measure'' were urgently needed to provide a rigorous proof of Gibbs' [[ergodic hypothesis]].<ref>Weiner, N., ''The Fourier Integral and Certain of its Applications.''</ref>

==See also==
{{divcol}}
* [[Lebesgue covering dimension]]
* [[Lebesgue constant]]s
* [[Lebesgue's decomposition theorem]]
* [[Lebesgue's density theorem]]
* [[Lebesgue differentiation theorem]]
* [[Lebesgue integration]]
* [[Lebesgue's lemma]]
* [[Lebesgue measure]]
* [[Lebesgue's number lemma]]
* [[Lebesgue point]]
* [[Lp space|Lebesgue space]]
* [[Lebesgue spine]]
* [[Lebesgue's universal covering problem]]
* [[Lebesgue–Rokhlin probability space]]
* [[Lebesgue–Stieltjes integration]]
* [[Riemann integral#Integrability|Lebesgue–Vitali theorem]]
* [[Blaschke–Lebesgue theorem]]
* [[Cousin's theorem|Borel–Lebesgue theorem]]
* [[Fatou–Lebesgue theorem]]
* [[Riemann–Lebesgue lemma]]
* [[Walsh–Lebesgue theorem]]
* [[Dominated convergence theorem]]
* [[Osgood curve]]
* [[Tietze extension theorem]]
* [[List of things named after Henri Lebesgue]]
{{divcol end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.bibmath.net/bios/index.php?action=affiche&quoi=lebesgue <nowiki>Henri Léon Lebesgue (28 juin 1875 [Rennes] - 26 juillet 1941 [Paris])</nowiki>] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebesgue, Henri}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Beauvais]]
[[Category:20th-century French mathematicians]]
[[Category:Measure theorists]]
[[Category:Functional analysts]]
[[Category:French mathematical analysts]]
[[Category:Intuitionism]]
[[Category:École Normale Supérieure alumni]]
[[Category:Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Poitiers]]
[[Category:University of Paris alumni]]