The Department

Abi Gopal joined the Department of Mathematics in July 2024 as an assistant professor. Prior to this, he was a Gibbs assistant professor of mathematics at Yale University.

Abi's research is in the field of numerical analysis. He is particularly interested in numerical methods for integral equations, analysis-based algorithms, and numerical linear algebra. His work is primarily motivated by applications in wave propagation and quantum chemistry.

Melissa Zhang is a low-dimensional topologist who likes to use algebraic, combinatorial, and categorical methods to solve problems. Her favorite topological objects are knots and surfaces smoothly embedded in 3- and 4-dimensional spaces.

She received her Ph.D. from Boston College under the supervision of Eli Grigsby and David Treumann. She was previously a postdoc at the University of Georgia, SLMath/MSRI, and UC Davis (and is now a super-postdoc, as she never left).

With the anticipation of Data Science activities in full swing at UC Davis, in Fall 2020, our campus decided to renovate the first floor and basement of the former Physical Sciences and Engineering Library (PSEL) for the use of campus-wide Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) related activities. The renovation was finally completed in December 2023.

Shizhou Xu, originally from China, earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 2024 under the supervision of Professor Thomas Strohmer. His research focuses on the intersection of mathematics and trustworthy artificial intelligence, with particular emphasis on fairness, privacy, interpretability, and robustness in machine learning.

Kiseok Yeon joined UC Davis as a Krener Assistant Professor this Fall quarter. His main research interest lies on analytic number theory (especially the Hardy-Littlewood method), theory of exponential sums and its applications, and analytic methods in connection with rational points on varieties. 

Aside from mathematics, he loves playing tennis and running. He would love to be contacted if Department members want to do exercise together – he loves all kind of exercises!
 

Oliver Siebert works in mathematical quantum theory, mainly using tools from functional analysis (including spectral theory, operator theory, operator algebras). Currently, he is interested in many-body theory with applications to quantum information (Lieb-Robinson bounds, area laws), and in non-relativistic QED/Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonians. He completed his Ph.D. in 2021 at the University of Jena under the supervision of David Hasler. Following that, he worked as a postdoc with Marius Lemm at EPFL and the University of Tübingen.

Jared Krandel is a new KAP who will be starting at UC Davis in January 2025. He graduated from Stony Brook University in Spring 2024 and is spending this Fall as a postdoc at SLMath in Berkeley. Most of his work so far has been in an area of geometric measure theory called quantitative rectifiability. He studies geometric properties of rectifiable curves and surfaces through things like analyst's traveling salesman problems, characterizations of uniform rectifiability, parameterizability problems, and more. 

Anna Zarkh received her Mathematics Education Ph.D. in May 2024 from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Mathematics from Bar Ilan University in Israel. Anna’s research focuses on university mathematics education, specializing in socio-cultural theories, discourse analysis, and micro-ethnographic methods. She is interested in the historical development and effects of communication practices in contemporary academic mathematics.

Isaac Neal received his Ph.D. from the Courant Institute at NYU in 2024. He studies partial differential equations with a focus on fluid dynamics. In particular, his research has delved into the formation of shocks in compressible fluids.
 

Yoon Jae "Nick" Nho is a Krener Assistant Professor, mentored by Professor Roger Casals. His research is in symplectic geometry and topology, and he is interested in geometric structures that are related to physics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in August 2024, under the supervision of Professor Ailsa Keating. 

He is from South Korea, and his hobbies include reading books, watching films, and listening to music.