tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (sad news about Torsten Ekedahl)

Joseph O'Rourke comments on "sad news about Torsten Ekedahl" (17209)

Joseph O'Rourke — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:16:22 -0800

202 erudite answers ranging over 146 tags; zero downvotes.

James Borger comments on "sad news about Torsten Ekedahl" (17202)

James Borger — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:54:16 -0800

This is so sad and a complete shock. Though I had been interested in his work for a long time, I met him only once. It was during a conference which happened to take place in the pre-public phase of MO. He made a big impression on me then and an even bigger one when he became an MO participant. He was perhaps my favorite one. I think I upvoted every one of his answers, sometimes without taking the time to understand them but on the hope that it would encourage him to answer more.

Ben Webster comments on "sad news about Torsten Ekedahl" (17199)

Ben Webster — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:11:41 -0800

Gerhard- Unless some new information comes to light (say, a request from his family), I don't think anything needs to be done with his account. It's possible that adding a link to this thread, or another page, but even that doesn't seem obviously necessary.

grp comments on "sad news about Torsten Ekedahl" (17196)

grp — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:24:13 -0800

News travels quickly, especially bad news. If the news of Torsten's passing is indeed true, I offer my sympathies to his offline colleagues and relations.

It brings to mind the question "What happens to the MathOverflow account?" I don't really need to know, just assured by the moderators that there is a policy that will be performed, like a suspension followed by a termination with a link to a full explanation for those interested in a record of his contributions to this forum, or something else respectful and in keeping with privacy and other policies to safeguard MathOverflow.

Gerhard "Seen Too Many Deaths Lately" Paseman, 2011.11.23

Mariano comments on "sad news about Torsten Ekedahl" (17195)

Mariano — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:58:53 -0800

Oh :(

Ben Webster comments on "sad news about Torsten Ekedahl" (17194)

Ben Webster — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:42:07 -0800

I've just received word that frequent contributor Torsten Ekedahl passed away suddenly. I figured people would want to know. The email (forwarded to the moderators from an algebraic geometry mailing list) is below:

Unfortunately, we have some very sad news:

Torsten Ekedahl has passed away.

Torsten collapsed this morning at the Stockholm University Mathematics Department and died shortly thereafter. Attempts of colleagues and ambulance personnel to resuscitate him were unfortunately unsuccessful.

The SU Mathematics Department and the mathematical communities in Stockholm and Sweden have suffered a great loss. All who knew Torsten personally or through his work know that he was an exceptional mathematician, in many different ways. Torsten's main interest was Algebraic Geometry, but his research and knowledge went far beyond our field.

Torsten Ekedahl will be sorely missed by many.

Carel Faber and Sandra Di Rocco