The De Bruijn sequence, a cyclic arrangement of symbols where every possible subsequence of a specific length appears exactly once, remains a cornerstone of combinatorial mathematics. Developed by Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, this contribution exemplifies his career, which spanned the Dutch academic landscape and significantly influenced the evolution of logic, theoretical computer science, and graph theory.
Academic Formation and Early Career
Born in 1918 in The Hague, Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn began his formal mathematical studies at Leiden University in 1936. His education coincided with the onset of World War II, during which he served as an assistant at the Delft University of Technology starting in 1939. He completed his undergraduate studies at Leiden in 1941 and earned his PhD from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 1943, where he wrote his thesis, 'Over modulaire vormen van meer veranderlijken', under the supervision of Jurjen Ferdinand Koksma.
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Following his doctoral work, De Bruijn joined the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium in Eindhoven in 1944. He later held several academic roles, including a return to the Delft University of Technology from 1946 until 1952. His career progressed to the University of Amsterdam, where he served as a professor between 1952 and 1960. He concluded his active teaching tenure at the Eindhoven University of Technology, serving as a professor there from 1960 until his retirement in 1984.
Contributions to Mathematics and Computing
De Bruijn’s research output covered combinatorics, number theory, and analysis. He is credited with several notable mathematical structures and results, including the De Bruijn graph, the BEST theorem concerning Eulerian circuits, the De Bruijn–Erdős theorem in graph theory, and the De Bruijn-Newman constant. In the late 1960s, he designed Automath, a language intended for the automatic verification of mathematical proofs. Later in his life, he focused on modeling human brain functions.
Honors and Legacy
In 1957, De Bruijn was inducted as a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. His service to the field was further recognized in 1981 when he was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He died in 2012 in Nuenen, leaving behind an extensive body of work that influenced generations of students, including Antonius Levelt, Matheus Hautus, and Robert Nederpelt Lazarom.
Fast facts
- Born: 1918, The Hague
- Died: 2012, Nuenen
- Citizenship: Kingdom of the Netherlands
- PhD: 1943, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Primary Fields: Combinatorics, Graph Theory
- Major Invention: Automath
- Award: Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (1981)
Questions readers ask
What is Automath?
Automath is a language designed by De Bruijn in the late 1960s to represent mathematical proofs for the purpose of automatic verification.
Which major academic institutions did he serve?
De Bruijn held positions at Delft University of Technology, Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium, the University of Amsterdam, and Eindhoven University of Technology.
Achievements
- Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion — 1981
- Notable work: De Bruijn–Erdős theorem
- Notable work: De Bruijn torus
- Notable work: De Bruijn graph
- Notable work: De Bruijn sequence
- Held posts at Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and University of Amsterdam
- Fields: combinatorics, graph theory and theoretical computer science
