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College of Science and Technology
MATHEMATICS UPDATE WINTER 2016
Chair’s Message Greetings! I am happy to share this edition of the Temple mathematics newsletter, which covers the news, research and events during 2015. Our faculty members continue to be recognized and honored for their contributions to mathematical research and to the mathematics community. Our undergraduate and graduate programs continue to grow. New for this year, we hosted both an undergraduate mathematics conference and a graduate student conference in algebra and geometry. We also all survived an extensive remodeling of our home, Wachman Hall. Once again I want to thank colleagues, students and staff for all of their hard work. I wish you all well in the year ahead. Best regards,
New Faculty from MIT and Germany focus on noncommutative algebra and computationbased neuroscience Associate Professor S. Gillian Queisser and Assistant Professor Chelsea Walton joined the Mathematics Department in July 2015. Chelsea Walton: Algebraic approaches to quantum symmetry Chelsea Walton, Selma Lee Bloch Brown (tenure track) Assistant Professor, studies noncommutative algebra, with a special focus on quantum symmetries. Symmetry is a classical notion that arises in biology, architecture, music and many other fields. Classically, symmetries are observed, yet in the quantum setting observability is rather unintuitive and so must be studied indirectly. Walton’s contributions to this field include the study of quantum symmetries (or lack thereof) on commutative domains, Weyl algebras, “Artin-Schelter regular” algebras, and path algebras.
Assistant Professor Chelsea Walton
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Walton also has made contributions in noncommutative algebraic geometry, a field that is especially useful for analyzing noncommutative algebras whose origins lie in physics. In collaboration with Susan J. Sierra, University of Edinburgh, Walton answered a 23-year-old problem of C. Dean and L. W. Small concerning the noetherianity of enveloping algebras of infinitedimensional Lie algebras.
There are many opportunities to contribute to the continued success of the Department of Mathematics. You can support student scholarships, faculty endowment and innovative programs.
Walton, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation, came to Temple from MIT, where she was an NSF postdoctoral fellow and C.L.E. Moore Instructor. Prior to that she was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington-Seattle. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of Manchester, UK. She is originally from Detroit, Michigan.
To learn more about how you can impact the department’s future and the future of our graduates, please contact John Walker, associate vice dean, at 215-204-8176 or john.walker@temple.edu
S. Gillian Queisser: Applying mathematics to neuroscience
Ed Letzter Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics
Associate Professor S. Gillian Queisser’s research interests include numerics and scientific computing, high-performance computing and applications to the life sciences. His primary research goal is to move the frontiers of computationbased neuroscience toward a discipline driven by physical first principles, numerical methods and large scale simulations. continued on page 3
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New PhDs Scott Ladenheim, May 2015. His thesis, Constraint preconditioning for saddle point problems, was completed under the guidance of Professor Daniel Szyld. Ladenheim is now a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, U.K. Christian Millichap, May 2015. His thesis, Mutations and geometric invariants of hyperbolic 3-manifolds, was completed with his advisor, Associate Professor David Futer. Millichap is now a tenure-track assistant professor of mathematics at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Brian Paljug, May 2015. His thesis, Deformation complexes for algebraic operads and their applications, was completed under the direction of Associate Professor Vasily Dolgushev. Ahmad Sabra, July 2015. Sabra’s thesis, Nonlinear partial differential equations and optical surfaces design, was completed under the direction of Professor Cristian Gutierrez. Sabra now holds a postdoctoral research position in the Faculty of Mathematics, Infomatics, and Mechanics, Warsaw Center of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Warsaw, Poland. Matthew Lagro, July 2015. Lagro’s thesis, A Perron-Frobenius type of theorem for quantum operations, was completed under the guidance of Professor Wei-Shih Yang.
Ahmad Sabra selected young researcher at Heidelberg Laureate Forum Ahmed Sabra, PhD ’15, was selected to participate as a young researcher at the 2015 Heidelberg Laureate Forum in August. The participating laureates were all winners of the Abel Prize, Fields Medal or Turing Award. The goal of the forum is to foster interaction between laureates and young researchers.
Graduate students’ summer research travels Farhan Abedin attended the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, Summer School Incompressible Fluid Flows at High Reynolds Number, July 27 to Aug. 7. Hussein Awala participated in the 6th Symposium on Analysis and PDEs in June at Purdue University and in the NSF-CBMS Regional Conference in the Mathematical Sciences in July at North Dakota State University. Hussein Awala and Luca Palluchini participated in the 8th Workshop on Geometric Analysis of PDEs and Several Complex Variables in August in Serra Negra, Brazil. Naeyong Kong participated in the Centre de Mathématiques-Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences Summer School in Probability at McGill University between June 15 and July 11. Kathryn Lund-Nguyen was a summer intern in Graduate-Level Research in Industrial Projects for Students (GRIPS)-Berlin 2015. Thomas Ng attended the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (Berkeley) Summer School Geometric Group Theory in June. Eric Stachura attended the Summer School on Current Topics in Mathematical Physics in August at Federico Santa María Technical University in Viña del Mar, Chile.
STUDENT AWARDS
Mathematics students win College of Science and Technology awards
Student and postdoctoral teaching and service awards
GRADUATE STUDENT Ahmad Sabra: College Research Award.
The winners of the 2015 Department of Mathematics student and postdoctoral teaching and service awards were:
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Matthew Berardi: Scott Hibbs Memorial Award Christopher W. Copple Award for Excellence in the Field of Mathematics: Andrew Schneider, Matthew Berardi Francis James and Helen C. Sholomskas Award for Outstanding Students: Giovanni Adiletta, Patricia Anderson, John Edwardson, Jr., Louis Graup, Kyle Nardi, Daniel Reich, Emily Wetzel-Ulrich Phyllis Zayon Steinberg Memorial Award in Mathematics: Mark Mikida Most promising Mathematics Major Award: Fiona Galzarano, Nirali Patel
• Excellence in Teaching for a Postdoctoral Assistant Professor: Sunnie Joshi • Excellence in Teaching for a Graduate Teaching Assistant: Matthew Lagro • Graduate Student Service Award: Christian Millichap • Undergraduate Student Service Award: Sarah Munson; Louis Graup, Mia Hunsicker and Seth Epstein
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New faculty hires
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Since computational methods in neuroscience are currently based on analogies, rather than detailed physical models, Queisser and his research group use and develop numerical methods for large-scale computing to analyze continuum-based models of three-dimensional neuronal processes on intricate morphologies. Queisser is also currently extending his interdisciplinary approach to “virtual medicine” by coupling electrical, biochemical and mechanical processes—and by developing efficient numerical methods—to help transform medical procedures from an experience-governed discipline to an optimized and individualized process. Queisser completed his PhD in 2008 at the Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, where he was also a research associate at the Simulation in Associate Professor Gillian Queisser Technology Research Group. From 2008 to 2010, he also was the independent research group leader of that university’s Computational Neuroscience Research Group at the Cluster of Excellence CellNetworks. From then until he joined Temple this past summer, he was a W-1 professor in the Goethe University of Frankfurt’s Department of Computer Science and Mathematics. His research has been supported by the CellNetworks Cluster of Excellence and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Berhanu elected AMS fellow Professor Shiferaw Berhanu has been elected to the 2016 class of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society. He will be officially inducted at the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings in Seattle. The Fellows of the American Mathematical Society program recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication and utilization of mathematics. Professor Shiferaw Berhanu
He will be joining two other department faculty members who were elected AMS fellows for the 2015 class: Irina Mitrea and Igor Rivin.
Faculty honors Associate Professor David Futer has been named the 2015-16 Elinor Lunder Founders’ Circle Member of the Institute for Advanced Study. Professor Irina Mitrea was awarded an Association for Women in Mathematics Service Award at the AWM Reception and Awards Presentation in January at the 2015 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Antonio, Texas. She also won the 2014 College of Science and Technology Dean’s Distinguished Excellence in Mentoring Award.
Benjamin Seibold was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor by the Temple University Board of Trustees, effective July 1, 2015. Assistant Professor (Instructional) Elena Ya Vishik won the 2014 CST Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
NEW RESEARCH GRANTS Vasiliy Dolgushev • Questions on Algebraic Operads and Related Structures, NSF David Futer • Connections in Low-Dimensional Topology, NSF Yury Grabovsky • Linear and Non-Linear Elasticity: Study of Exact Relations and Instabilities, NSF Isaac Klapper and Daniel B. Szyld • Collaborative Research: Connecting Omics to Physical and Chemical Environment in Community Microbial Ecology, NSF Martin W. Lorenz • Noncommutative and Commutative Invariant Theory, National Security Agency Irina Mitrea • Geometric Measure Theory and Higher Order Elliptic Problems, Simons Foundation Brian Rider • Limit Laws Arising in Random Matrix Theory, NSF Benjamin Seibold • CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Control of Vehicular Traffic Flow via Low Density Autonomous Vehicles, NSF Daniel B. Szyld • Multiple Preconditioners for Saddle-Point and Other Problems, NSF Chelsea Walton • Noncommutative Algebraic Geometry and Noncommutative Invariant Theory, NSF
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS Several undergraduates have participated in mathematics research through CST’s Undergraduate Research Program. They include James Fitzgerald (mentored by Gerardo Mendoza), Louis Graup (mentored by Benjamin Seibold), Abe Lyle (Yury Grabovsky), Hansen Pei (Yury Grabovsky), Daniel Reich (Chelsea Walton), Yeahuay Wu (Matthew Stover), Patrick Wynne (Yury Grabovsky). Fitzgerald's poster in the CST research symposium was awarded 3rd place.
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Past Events • Last April, Temple hosted the Philadelphia Undergraduate Mathematics Conference Series. Over 70 undergraduates, graduate students and faculty participated. Undergraduates gave talks on their mathematical research, and there was a poster session for undergraduate and graduate students. The plenary lecture, Integration using Algebraic Topology was delivered by Robert Ghrist, Andrea Mitchell University Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. A mini-course, “Analysis and Statistics in Number Theory”, was presented by Austin Daughton, PhD ’12. There also was also a session on professional development.
Faculty Notes Professor Shiferaw Berhanu served on the Scientific Committee for the 8th Workshop on Geometric Analysis of PDEs and Several Complex Variables in August in Serra Negra, Brazil. Professor Berhanu was also PI on an NSF conference grant supporting the workshop; he and Professors Gerardo Mendoza and Irina Mitrea were among the main lecturers. Associate Professor David Futer co-organized the “Classical and quantum hyperbolic geometry and topology” conference held in July in Orsay, France. The conference honored the eminent geometer Francis Bonohan. Futer was also a co-PI on the NSF grant supporting the conference. Professor Daniel Szyld has been named editor-in-chief of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics’ Journal of Matrix Analysis and Applications.
The conference was organized by Professor Irina Mitrea, Associate Professor (Instructional) Maria Lorenz and Assistant Professor (Instructional) Ellen Panofsky. The series was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation through the Mathematical Association of America’s Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conferences program. • Last May, Temple hosted the two-day Graduate Student Conference in Algebra, Geometry, and Topology. There were approximately 85 student participants. The conference featured 30-minute research talks by graduate students and four keynote lecturers: Julie Bergner of the University of California, Riverside; Jessica Purcell of Brigham Young University; Chelsea Walton of MIT/Temple University; and Daniel Wise of McGill University. The event was supported by the Department of Mathematics, the College of Science and Technology, the Temple University Graduate School and an NSF conference grant on which Millichap was the PI and Futer and Paljug were co-PIs. • The department hosted its fourth annual Mid-Atlantic Numerical Analysis Day. These conferences are aimed at graduate and postdoctoral researchers from the region, who present short talks and participate in the poster session. The keynote talk was delivered by Eitan Tadmor, Center for Scientific Computation and Mathematical Modeling and Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park. The event was organized by Associate Professor Benjamin Seibold and Professor Daniel Szyld.
K-12 Outreach Last year, the department again hosted two of its most popular initiatives for K-12 students. The fourth Mathematics Circle for middle-school students was fully enrolled within 24 hours. The free program's organizers included Professor Irina Mitrea, Associate Professor (Instructional) Maria Lorenz and Assistant Professor (Instructional) Ellen Panofsky and Temple math graduate student Christian Millichap. The department also organized its fourth-annual Sonia Kovalesky Day. Fifty-eight young women in grades 5 through 8 participated. The event was organized by Mitrea with co-organizer Professor Maria Lorenz.