蓝莓视频

Faculty of Mathematics Professor William听Slofstra听credits the University of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 collaborative environment for him receiving a 2021 Sloan Research Fellowship. The pure mathematician is keen to use the monetary prize that comes with the fellowship to enhance the supportive atmosphere he has benefited from at 蓝莓视频.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation because I put a lot of work into my research,鈥� says听Slofstra, who is also a member of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Institute for Quantum Computing. 鈥淩eceiving this fellowship is a recognition of the kind of environment that鈥檚 created at 蓝莓视频 where research is supported. It鈥檚 an environment where you can talk to other researchers, there鈥檚 time to do research, and great students to speak with about their work.听

鈥淲hat I鈥檇 like to do with this award is help to keep this environment going because that鈥檚 what creates the conditions for doing good research.鈥澨�

The Sloan Research Fellowship, which has been awarded annually since 1955, honours U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.听

Open to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields听鈥斕齝hemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics听鈥斕齮he Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded in close coordination with the scientific community. Candidates must be nominated by their fellow scientists and winners are selected by independent panels of senior scholars based on a candidate鈥檚 research accomplishments, creativity听and potential to become a leader in their field. More than 1,000 researchers are nominated each year for 128 fellowship slots. Winners receive a two-year, $75,000 fellowship, which fellows can spend to advance their research.听

鈥淲illiam is a rising superstar in the research community听and I鈥檓 extremely pleased that the Sloan Foundation has recognized his enormous talent and potential,鈥� says David McKinnon, chair of the Department of Pure Mathematics and the person who nominated听Slofstra.听听

Professor听Slofstra鈥檚听most significant research has been on the mathematical foundations of quantum information theory and especially the mathematics concerning the听Tsirelson听conjectures and the reformulation of the听Connes听Embedding Problem in terms of joint conditional probability densities.听

Slofstra, in 2016, was the first to prove that some of听Tsirelson鈥檚听mathematical models yielded听different sets of joint quantum probability densities.听He听has also used his work to show the remarkable result that certain problems in quantum theory are undecidable. He did this by demonstrating that his constructions allowed him to reduce certain problems in quantum theory to the听mathematics of groups of symmetries.听

鈥淐ongratulations to William on being awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship,鈥� says Mark Giesbrecht, Dean of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Faculty of Mathematics. 鈥淲illiam鈥檚 work is already driving the research frontier and carrying the field of mathematics and mathematical physics forward.鈥澨�听

Slofstra's听work has been continued by others, who have shown separations between other sets of joint quantum probability densities.听A听team of computer scientists听in a lauded work in 2020听showed the last remaining pair听of听of听Tsirelson鈥檚听mathematical models听were distinct,听resolving the听Connes听embedding problem.鈥�听

Slofstra听continues work on听connections between听the听mathematics of groups of symmetries and听Tsirelson鈥檚听problems.听听