دکتر سعید مقصودی

Functional analysis was an  important development in the viewpoint of mathematicians in examining the behavior of functions as a set (space of functions). The important concept of single space and the distance of its points, invented by ‎Fréchet‎ in the early 20th century, and the fusion of algebraic and topological concepts eventually led to the establishment of this branch of mathematics around 1933. The first Iranian mathematician to make a mark in this field was Heydar Radjavi, who contributed to the field in Iran from 1963 to 1968. Another branch of this field is called nonlinear functional analysis, and Behzad Djafari-Rouhani was the first specialist in this branch who worked in the country from 19‎87‎ onwards. Another key figure in the development and expansion of this branch in the country is Jafar Zafarani. This article, after outlining the history of functional analysis, will provide a brief overview of his contributions to this field. Through a conversation with him, we will delve into his experiences and insights from various aspects of his professional life.

Elsewhere, the history and introduction of harmonic analysis into Iran hasbeen briefly discussed. Abstract harmonic analysis is, without doubt, a natural extensionof the Fourier’s series and integrals. It’s worth noting that Harmonic analysis isnothing but the development of the theory of series and integrals on topological groups(or similar structures). The history of Fourier analysis can be divided into two periods:classical and modern. The classical period of Fourier analysis, which spanned fromFourier’s treatise into the 1950s, focused mainly on investigating the convergence andsummability methods of Fourier series. The modern era of Fourier analysis was essentiallyshaped by Lebesgue’s theory of integration and the introduction of the concept ofabstract function spaces, thus shifting the focus from examining individual members ofa space of functions to investigating the entire space. This era was further developed inFourier analysis by Antoni Zygmund’s introduction of real variable methods. AlbertoCalderon’s contributions began in the 1950s.In the first part of this paper, we briefly survey the most critical developmentsin Fourier analysis from the early days till recent decades. Then, in the second part,an interview with M. Hormozi –a Fourier analyst who graduated from the ChalmersUniversity of Technology– provides us with a more rigorous picture of the modern eraof Fourier analysis.

Giving a brief description on types of scientific/academic journals and articles, we focus on, mainly expository, mathematical journals published in Iran during recent decades. Then we give a brief history of “Farhang va Andishe-ye Riyazi”, an expository journal published by the Iranian Mathematical Society. We conclude with a table of contents of entire journal’s published volumes within its 40 years life.