Mathematics

Our academics have links with research groups in other departments around the university, and work collaboratively on interdisciplinary projects with colleagues across the Faculty of Science and Health such as the Department of Psychology and the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.

Mathematics research in our department covers three main areas: applied mathematics, pure mathematics, and mathematics education. Academics may have interests in more than one area, and some also carry out research within data science.

• Algebra, Geometry and Discrete Mathematics theme (Jessica Claridge, Sema Gunturkun, Peter Higgins, Alastair Litterick, Jesus Martinez-Garcia, David Penman, Alexei Vernitski, Gerald Williams) – The recent departmental growth strategy has enabled an expansion in the theme’s scope, doubling its size from a core base of expertise in semigroup theory, combinatorial group theory, graph theory and combinatorics to now include researchers working with commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, finite group theory and applications of finite field theory to network coding.
• Analysis and Mathematical Physics theme (Murat Akman, Georgios Papamikos, Georgi Grahovski and Tao Gao) - Theme members work on a broad range of topics in Mathematical Analysis and Mathematical Physics, including discrete and continuous integrable systems, Lie groups, Lie algebras and symmetries, analysis of PDEs, Harmonic analysis and Potential theory, algebraic methods in differential equations, and geometric analysis. 
• Mathematical Applications theme (Chris Antonopoulos, Edd Codling, Dmitry Savostyanov) - Theme members work on topics ranging from numerical mathematics and applications of linear algebra, through dynamical systems and nonlinear waves, to mathematical biology. Specific topics include complex systems, network analysis, network inference, random walk theory, collective behaviour, population dynamics, pattern formation, dynamical systems, soliton theory and nonlinear waves, nonlinear and atomic optics, spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, fluid mechanics, numerical mathematics, low-rank tensor product approximations, linear and multilinear algebra, matrix analysis, and the design of efficient numerical algorithms.
• Mathematics Education theme (Jessica Claridge, Chris Saker, Alexei Vernitski) - Researchers in this theme are dedicated to enhancing the teaching and learning of mathematics, particularly in post-16 and university education. A primary research direction seeks to improve the motivation of learners by studying growth mindsets and their influence on the mathematical learning process.