Nationality Danish Occupation Mathematician | Known for Folner sequence Name Erling Folner | |
Died 10 October 1991(1991-10-10) (aged 71)Hillerod | ||
Erling Følner (18 November 1919 – 10 October 1991) was a Danish mathematician known for the Følner sequence.
Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (Danmarks Tekniske Højskole, DtH) in the period from 1954 to 1974. Følner published a comprehensive survey of almost periodic functions with Harald Bohr, and continued with further studies on this topic in his doctoral dissertation.
Følner is known internationally for the Følner sequence: a Følner sequence for a group is a sequence of sets satisfying a particular condition. If a group has a Følner sequence with respect to its action on itself, the group is amenable. A more general notion of Følner nets can be defined analogously, and is suited for the study of uncountable groups.
Følner married Harald Bohr's daughter, Ellen Bohr (1923–1972).