Name: Mark S. Pinsker

Born: April 24, 1925

Death: December 23, 2003 (Age: 78)

  • Russian mathematician who fields of study included information theory, probability theory, coding theory, ergodic theory, mathematical statistics, and communication networks.
  • Known for his classic paper on the entropy theory of dynamical systems which introduced the maximal partition with zero entropy, later known as Pinsker’s partition.
  • Produced notable results in the theory of switching networks and complexity problems in coding theory.

Significant publications

  • Numbers, Information, and Complexity (2000).
  • Estimation of error-correction complexity of Gallager low-density codes (1976).
  • The complexity of an optimal non-blocking commutation scheme without reorganization (1973).
  • Theory of curves in Hilbert space with stationary increments of order (1955).

Honors and awards

  • IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (1996).
  • IEEE Claude E. Shannon Award (1978).
  • Richard Hamming
  • Claude Shannon