Olga Ladyzhenskaya: Google's Doodle celebrates Russian mathematician's 97th birthday

Google is celebrating the 97th birth anniversary of Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskaya by dedicating a doodle and a YouTube video recalling her life and achievements today.

The Google doodle features her caricature in an elliptical shape with a Navier–Stokes equation, paying homage to her work involving linear and quasilinear elliptic equations. Ladyzhenskaya provided the first rigorous proofs of the convergence of a finite difference method for the Navier–Stokes equations.

Her work on differential equation led to several developments in the study of fluid dynamics and paved the way for advances in weather forecasting, oceanography, aerodynamics, and cardiovascular science.

Ladyzhenskaya credited her passion and inspiring love for mathematics to her father, who was a mathematics teacher.