Alexander Litvak

In mathematics, making predictions is about recognizing a pattern. That’s why breakthroughs in mathematics reverberate through other disciplines. The ability of pure mathematics to spot relationships and recognize trends can generate solutions that apply to a wide variety of data. As mathematics is the universal language of the sciences, it can help researchers in many fields.

Alexander Litvak, of the University of Alberta, is an internationally renowned mathematician who has made decisive progress on complex and long-standing mathematical problems. For his achievements, he is a recipient of a 2011 E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship.

Dr. Litvak’s research focuses on “high-dimensional phenomena”—an area dealing with large trends that is used to interpret data from a variety of fields. Because “high-dimensional phenomena” impacts many disciplines, it is seen as the cross-roads of many branches of mathematics such as functional analysis, convex and discrete geometry, and several areas of probability. His research into deep, difficult problems of relevance has found applications in a wide variety of applied sciences such as computer science, statistics and information theory.

Looking forward, Dr. Litvak’s research team will concentrate on Asymptotic Geometric Analysis. This research will lead to the development of new understanding, new techniques and new results in this cutting edge and fast-growing field of theoretical mathematics.