Algebra & Algebraic Geometry

Polynomial equations and systems of equations occur in all branches of mathematics, science and engineering. Understanding the surprisingly complex solutions (algebraic varieties) to these systems has been a mathematical enterprise for many centuries and remains one of the deepest and most central areas of contemporary mathematics.

The research interests of our group include the classification of algebraic varieties, especially the birational classification and the theory of moduli, which involves considerations of how algebraic varieties vary as one varies the coefficients of the defining equations. The Minimal Model Program offers one promising route toward classification. Another active research area involves Hodge theory, which relates the topology of an algebraic variety with harmonic functions. The Hodge Conjecture is one of the seven Clay Millennium Problems with a million dollar reward. Gromov-Witten theory, the study of the derived category, Calabi-Yau manifolds, and mirror symmetry are active areas partially inspired by their connections with theoretical high energy particle physics, especially string theory. Noncommutative algebraic geometry, a generalization which has ties to representation theory, has become an important and active field of study by several members of our department. The advent of high-speed computers has inspired new research into algorithmic methods of solving polynomial equations, with many interesting practical applications (e.g., to economics, genetics and robotics).

Department Members in This Field

Faculty

Instructors & Postdocs

  • Patrick Bieker Arithmetic Geometry, Langlands Program
  • Manik Dhar Combinatorics, Theoretical Computer Science
  • Felix Gotti Commutative Algebra and Semigroup Theory (in connection to Number Theory and Combinatorics)
  • Siddarth Kannan Algebraic geometry, Combinatorics
  • Miguel Moreira Algebraic Geometry, Moduli Spaces, Enumerative Geometry
  • Thomas Rüd Number theory, representation theory of p-adic groups, algebraic geometry
  • David Yang Algebraic Geometry, Representation Theory, Geometric Langlands
  • Robin Zhang Number Theory, Automorphic Forms, Diophantine Geometry

Researchers & Visitors

  • Edgar Costa Computational Number Theory, Arithmetic Geometry
  • David Roe Computational number theory, Arithmetic geometry, local Langlands correspondence
  • Samuel Schiavone Computational number theory, arithmetic geometry

Graduate Students*

*Only a partial list of graduate students