Good News!

Faculty

  • New Tenure-Track Faculty – Welcome!

    • Dr. Jun Li – Santa Suzanna 425
    • Dr. Ryan Moruzzi – Live Oak 1301D

  • New Promotions – Congratulations!

    • Dr. Turbo Ho, Associate Professor
    • Dr. Ali Sharadqah, Professor

  • Awards

Silvia Fernadez Award 2 Congratulations to Dr. Silvia Fernandez, CSUN's 2025 Outstanding Faculty Awardee, and to all the Math faculty members recognized at CSUN's Honored Faculty Awards Reception

 

Current Grants

  • NSF Grant - Jing Li

Collaborative Research: Structured Population Dynamics Subject to Stoichiometric Constraints

This project investigates how age- and stage-specific nutritional constraints influence population dynamics and ecosystem function under changing environmental conditions. By integrating laboratory experiments with mathematical models grounded in Ecological Stoichiometry, the research explores how essential elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus shape growth, maturation, and reproduction. The models will use differential equations to capture the interplay between nutrient availability, fertility, and ecosystem processes. Collaborating across Texas Tech University, Haverford College, and California State University Northridge, the project provides interdisciplinary research and training opportunities for students in mathematics and ecology. The findings will advance understanding of how elemental imbalances impact ecological communities and population structure.

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant - Jason Lo

Reasoning in Autonomous Systems via Wiring Diagrams

Wiring diagrams provide a framework for complex concepts to be represented in machines, in a way that is understandable to humans.  The goal of this project is to develop algorithms that allow autonomous machines to understand the world and solve problems on their own.  The theoretical tool we use is category theory, a part of pure mathematics that is used widely in geometry and algebra.  By using wiring diagrams and category theory, it will be easier for humans to understand the decision-making process behind these algorithms.

  • NSF Grant - Ali Pakzad

Applied Data Assimilation in Turbulence Modeling:  Bridging Theory and Computation

This project focuses on understanding fluid motion and turbulence, complex processes that appear in everything from weather systems to ocean currents. We use a technique called data assimilation, which combines two powerful tools: mathematical models based on physical laws and real-world observational data. By integrating these approaches, the project aims to create more accurate, reliable, and efficient methods for predicting turbulent fluid behavior.

  • NSF Grant - Csaba Toth

Optimization on Geometric Networks from a Combinatorial Perspective

This project studies several closely related questions concerning geometric spanner networks from the perspective of extremal combinatorics. One group of questions involves the asymptotic behavior of spanners as the stretch factor tends to one. It aims to determine the dependence of the minimum weight of a t-spanner on the stretch factor t for n points in geometric scenarios: in a d-dimensional unit cube, in spaces with doubling dimension d, or in a section of the integer lattice. It will explore tradeoffs between the graph-diameter of a spanner and its minimum lightness, sparsity, or weight. When Steiner points are allowed, tradeoffs between the number of Steiner points and other optimization criteria are also of great interest. Another group of questions involves spanners for intersection graphs of geometric objects, which are relevant in applications in wireless network design. The project aims to derive upper and lower bounds on the minimum size of t-spanners, for small values of t, for the intersection graphs of balls, hyperrectangles, and other geometric objects in d-space. New insights into the behavior of near-optimal spanners and the limitations of feasible spanners under various parameter settings will guide the development of efficient approximation algorithms.

  • Other grants

    • LEAPS NSF Award Applied Data Assimilation – Ali Pakzad
    • AMS-Simons Research Enhancement Grant for Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) Faculty – Ali Pakzad & Silvia Fernandez
    • NSF Standard Grant – Turbo Ho

Students