Department of Mathematics

Head: Erwin Lutwak

The Department of Mathematics is committed to excellence and innovation in the teaching and research of mathematics. Current active areas of research include geometric analysis, differential topology and partial differential equations. The bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs provide both a solid foundation in mathematics and extensive exposure to how mathematics is used in practice. Half of a mathematics major’s courses are taken in other departments. The department also offers a complete spectrum of undergraduate and graduate courses.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Mathematics is to develop and implement innovative teaching strategies designed to help each student understand fundamental mathematical concepts and to use these concepts to excel in subsequent science and engineering courses.

Students taking departmental courses become confident in their abilities to reason rigorously, use the language of mathematics properly, write and speak about mathematical ideas precisely and concisely and appreciate the amazing power of mathematics to describe phenomena in the world. Students learn how to use mathematical software as a tool in the study and application of mathematics.

The Department

The department offers BS, MS and PhD degrees, with a strong interdisciplinary focus. The BS in Mathematics, for instance, has an optional concentration in physics . The MS in Mathematics focuses on strong abstract and quantitative reasoning abilities. The PhD in Mathematics encourages work applying advanced mathematics in other disciplines, with the major adviser from those disciplines.

To support its academic quality and to strengthen interdisciplinary work, the department’s research excels in the areas of convex geometry and the analysis of nonlinear partial differential equations arising from gauge field theory.

Degrees Offered by the Mathematics Program

Bachelor of Science

Mathematics, B.S.

Master of Science

Doctor of Philosophy

Mathematics, Ph.D.

Contact

Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Six MetroTech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: (718) 260-3850
Fax: (718) 260-3660
E-mail: chair@math.poly.edu
Web: www.math.poly.edu

Faculty

Professors

Monika Ludwig, Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Technische Universität Wien
Convex geometry, valuations, geometric and analytic inequalities

Erwin Lutwak, Professor of Mathematics, Department Head
PhD, Polytechnic Institute of New York
Geometric analysis

Edward Y. Miller, Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Harvard University
Differential topology

Deane Yang, Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Harvard University
Geometric analysis

Yisong Yang, Professor of Mathematics
PhD, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Partial differential equations, mathematical physics

Gaoyong Zhang, Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Temple University
Geometric analysis

Associate Professors

Kathryn Kuiken, Associate Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Polytechnic Institute of New York
Complex analysis, group theory

Joel C. W. Rogers, Associate Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Partial differential equations, fluid mechanics, numerical methods

Industry Faculty

David V. Chudnovsky, Distinguished Industry Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Institute of Mathematics, Ukrainian Academy of Science
Theoretical mathematics: number theory, partial differential equations, Hamiltonian systems. Mathematical physics: field theories, quantum systems. Computer science: computer algebra and complexity, large-scale numerical mathematics, parallel computing and digital signal processing

Gregory V. Chudnovsky, Distinguished Industry Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Institute of Mathematics, Ukrainian Academy of Science
Number theory: analytic number theory, diophantine approximations and transcendence theory. Mathematical physics: nonlinear equations, quantum and classical fields. Computer science: computer algebra and complexity, large-scale numerical mathematics, parallel computing and digital signal processing

Assistant Professor

Franziska Berger, Assistant Professor
PhD, Munich University of Technology
Discrete mathematics

Teaching Faculty

Vanita Khosla, Instructor
MS, Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Calculus, precalculus

Harvansh Manocha, Industry Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Panjab University (India)
Lie groups and special functions

Luciano Medina, Instructor
MS, Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Partial differential equations and mathematical biology

Arman Mimar, Instructor
PhD, Columbia University
Number theory, arithmetic geometry

Jinghua Qian, Instructor
PhD, Tufts University
Probability and stochastic process, statistics

Tom Pranayanuntana, Instructor
PhD, Polytechnic University
Matrix inequalities, discrete convexity and convex geometry

Lindsey Van Wagenen, Senior Lecturer
PhD, Columbia University
Applied physics

Adjunct Faculty

Michel Lobenberg, Adjunct Professor
PhD, Columbia University
Banach spaces, probability and stochastic processes, mathematical physics

Sudhakar Mishra, Adjunct Professor
PhD, City University of New York
Algebraic topology, computational number theory, statistical and mathematical modeling, fuzzy set theory, diagnostic pattern recognition, proteomics

Jiazu Zhou, Research Professor
PhD, Temple University
Convex geometry, integral geometry

Adjunct Instructors

Irina Bronstein
MS, Donetsk University

Amakoe Gbedemah
MA, Queens College

Daniel Khachatorian
BS, Polytechnic Institute of NYU

Rachel Jacobovits
MS, Polytechnic University

Liana Lazarashvili
MS, Georgian Academy of Science

Vaishali Prabhu
PhD, Karnatak University

Abraham Sher
ME, City College of New York
MA, Brooklyn College

Hanna Ulman
BA, Hebrew University
Teaching Certificate, Tel Aviv University

Fang Zhao
MS, Polytechnic University

Faculty Emeriti

Heinrich Guggenheimer

Leon Herbach

Harry Hochstadt

Burton Lieberman

Clifford W. Marshall

Lesley Sibner

Andrew J. Terzuoli

Hermann Waldinger

Georges Weill

Erich Zauderer