View source for Biography:Selman Akbulut

{{short description|Turkish mathematician}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Selman Akbulut 
| image         = Selman Akbulut.jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Selman Akbulut at [[Organization:Mathematical Research Institute of Oberwolfach|Oberwolfach]] in 2012.
| birth_name    = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date    = 1949
| birth_place   = Balıkesir, [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]]
| death_date    = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) -->
| death_place   = 
| nationality   = Turkish 
| education     = University of California 
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = [[Biography:Mathematician|Mathematician]]
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = [[Akbulut cork]]
| notable_works = 
}}
'''Selman Akbulut''' (born 1949) is a Turkish [[Biography:Mathematician|mathematician]], specializing in research in [[Topology|topology]], and [[Geometry|geometry]]. He was a professor at [[Organization:Michigan State University|Michigan State University]] until February 2020.

==Career==
In 1975 he earned his [[Ph.D.]] from the [[Organization:University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley]] as a student of [[Biography:Robion Kirby|Robion Kirby]]. In topology, he has worked on [[Handlebody|handlebody]] theory, low-dimensional [[Manifold|manifold]]s,<ref name="4-manifolds">{{cite book |last1=Akbulut |first1=Selman |title=4-manifolds |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198784869 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xMBDQAAQBAJ |accessdate=13 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref> symplectic topology, [[G2 manifold]]s. In the topology of real-algebraic sets, he and Henry C. King proved that every [[Compact space|compact]] piecewise-linear manifold is a real-algebraic set; they discovered new topological invariants of real-algebraic sets.<ref>S. Akbulut and H.C. King, ''Topology of real algebraic sets'',  MSRI Publications, 25. Springer-Verlag, New York (1992) {{isbn|0-387-97744-9}}</ref>

He was a visiting scholar several times at the Institute for Advanced Study (in 1975-76, 1980–81, 2002, and 2005).<ref>[http://www.ias.edu/people/cos/frontpage?page=1 Institute for Advanced Study: A Community of Scholars] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106144307/http://www.ias.edu/people/cos/frontpage?page=1 |date=2013-01-06 }}</ref>

On February 14, 2020, Akbulut was removed from his tenured position at MSU by the Board of Trustees, after complaints regarding his teaching attendance and communications with colleagues.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=Karly |last2=Monroe |first2=Maddie |title=Board of Trustees fires tenured professor for cause |url=https://statenews.com/article/2020/02/board-of-trustees-fires-tenured-professor-for-cause?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest |work=The State News |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="Dismissal">{{cite web |last1=Stanley |first1=Samuel L. |title=Dismissal of Tenured Faculty for Cause |url=https://trustees.msu.edu/meetings/AA2-Dismissal%20of%20Tenured%20Facutly%20for%20Cause1.pdf |website=MSU Board of Trustees |accessdate=14 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="WWMT">{{cite news |last1=Frost |first1=Mikenzie |title=MSU Trustees dismiss tenured professor, address Title IX investigation delays |url=https://wwmt.com/news/state/msu-trustees-dismiss-tenured-professor-address-title-ix-investigation-delays |accessdate=14 February 2020 |work=WWMT |date=14 February 2020}}</ref>

==Contributions==
He has developed 4-dimensional handlebody techniques, settling conjectures and solving problems about 4-manifolds, such as a conjecture of [[Biography:Christopher Zeeman|Christopher Zeeman]],<ref>S. Akbulut, A solution to a conjecture of Zeeman, Topology, vol.30, no.3, (1991), 513-515.</ref> the [[Dolgachev surface|Harer&ndash;Kas&ndash;Kirby conjecture]], a problem of [[Biography:Martin Scharlemann|Martin Scharlemann]],<ref>S. Akbulut, Scharlemann's manifold is standard, Ann of Math., 149 (1999) 497-510.</ref> and problems of [[Biography:Sylvain Cappell|Sylvain Cappell]] and Julius Shaneson.<ref>S. Akbulut, Cappell-Shaneson homotopy spheres are standard Ann. of Math., 171 (2010) 2171-2175.</ref><ref>S. Akbulut, Cappell-Shaneson's 4-dimensional s-cobordism, Geometry-Topology, vol.6, (2002), 425-494.</ref><ref>M. Freedman, R. Gompf, S. Morrison, K. Walker, Man and machine thinking about the smooth 4-dimensional Poincaré conjecture. Quantum Topol. 1 (2010), no. 2, 171–208</ref>
He constructed an exotic compact 4-manifold (with boundary) from which he discovered "[[Akbulut cork]]s".<ref> S. Akbulut, A Fake compact contractible 4-manifold, [[Journal of Differential Geometry]] 33, (1991), 335-356  </ref><ref>S. Akbulut, An exotic 4-manifold, Journ. of Diff. Geom. 33, (1991), 357-361</ref><ref>B. Ozbagci and A.I. Stipsicz. Surgery on contact 3-manifolds and Stein surfaces (p. 14), Springer {{isbn|3-540-22944-2}}</ref><ref>A. Scorpan, ''The wild world of 4-manifolds'' (p.90),  AMS Pub.  {{isbn|0-8218-3749-4}}</ref> 

His most recent results concern the  4-dimensional smooth [[Poincaré conjecture]].<ref name="Secret">{{cite web |last1=Morrison |first1=Scott |title=Poincaré conjecture |url=http://sbseminar.wordpress.com/category/low-dimensional-topology/poincare-conjecture/ |website=Secret Blogging Seminar |accessdate=13 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref>  He has supervised 14 Ph.D students as of 2019. He has more than 100 papers and three books published, and several books edited.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{MathGenealogy|id=15608}}
*[http://www.selmanakbulut.com/ Akbulut's homepage]
*[https://arxiv.org/find/math/1/au:+Akbulut_S/0/1/0/all/0/1 Akbulut's papers at ArXiv]
*[https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0202086/ Akbulut-King invariants]
*[[Real algebraic geometry]]
*[[Akbulut cork]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbulut, Selman}}
[[Category:Academic scandals]]
[[Category:Topologists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Selman Akbulut}}