双语畅销书《艾伦图灵传》第4章:彼岸新星(40)
日期:2017-06-20 09:02

(单词翻译:单击)

The months from January to April 1937 were absorbed in writing up a paper on the lambda-calculus, and two on group theory.
1937年1月到4月,艾伦一直在专心写论文,一篇关于λ算子,两篇关于群论。
Of these, the logic paper represented a small development of Kleene's ideas.
其中,逻辑论文是在克林的基础上提出一些新观点。
The first group theory paper was work related to that of Reinhold Baer, the German algebraist now attached to the IAS, which had mostly been done in 1935.
一篇群论论文与莱恩赫·巴尔1935年的研究有关,这位德国代数学家现在也来到了高级研究院。
But the second was a new departure, which arose through contact with von Neumann.
另一篇群论论文则是一项创新的工作,是通过与冯·诺伊曼交流而入手的,
It was a problem suggested by the emigré Polish mathematician S. Ulam, that of asking whether continuous groups could be approximated by finite groups, rather like approximating a sphere by polyhedra.
关于一个由波兰数学家S.乌拉姆提出的问题:能不能用有限群来逼近连续群,比如说能不能用多边体来逼近一个球。
Von Neumann had passed the problem on to Alan, who successfully dealt with it by April, when it was submitted.
冯·诺伊曼把这个问题交给艾伦,艾伦在4月时成功解决并提交了论文。
This was fast work, although as he had shown that continuous groups could not in general be approximated in this way, it was a rather negative result. Nor, he wrote, was he 'taking these things so seriously as the logic.'
这项工作做得很快,艾伦的结论是,在一般情形下,连续群不能被这样逼近。
Meanwhile the possibility had arisen of staying at Princeton for a second year. Alan wrote home on 22 February:
这时候,艾伦得到了继续留在普林斯顿的机会。2月22日,他写信回家:
I went to the Eisenharts regular Sunday tea yesterday and they took me in relays to try and persuade me to stay another year.
我昨天去艾森哈特家,参加例行的星期天茶会,他们劝我再留一年。
Mrs. Eisenhart mostly put forward social or semi-moral semi-sociological reasons why it would be a good thing to have a second year.
艾森哈特夫人从社会的角度,或者说半道德半社会的角度,给我讲为什么再留一年是有好处的。
The Dean weighed in with hints that the Procter Fellowship was mine for the asking (this is worth $2000 p.a.)
院长让我申请保洁奖学金,并暗示说我能得到(2000美元)。
I said I thought King's would probably prefer that I return, but gave some vague promise that I would sound them on the matter.
我说国王学院可能更希望我能回去,又说了一些模棱两可的承诺。
The people I know here will all be leaving, and I don't much care about the idea of spending a long summer in this country.
我在这里认识的人都会离开,而且我也不想在这个国家度过漫长的夏天。

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