Current and on-going research activities
The Center for Computational Mathematics and Scientific Computation (CCMSC) at the University of Haifa hosts the following Current and on-going research activities by members of the CCMSC:

Prof. Jonathan Arazy Prof. Shay Gueron
Prof. Dan Butnariu Dr. Gilad Lifschytz
Prof. Yair Censor Dr. Toufik Mansour
Dr. Joshua Feinberg Dr. Kobi Peterzil
Prof. Alex Gordon Prof. Efrat Shimshoni
Dr. Reuven Granot Prof. Raphael Yuster
 




























1.

Professor Jonathan Arazy
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Dr. Arazy does research in several areas of analysis on symmetric domains using Jordan theoretic tools. Some of the problems in this field have origin in Mathematical Physics (quantization).
Here is a partial list of his research themes:
Explicit (Besov Type) description of invariant inner products in spaces of holomorphic functions of symmetric domains;
Covariant functional calculi and eigenvalues of invariant operators on symmetric domains;
Asymptotic expansions of invariant operators on symmetric domains in the Planck constant (strong correspondence principle);
Boundary behavior and limits of iterates of Berezin transforms on Cartan domains;
Pointwise multipliers in spaces of holomorphic functions on Cartan domains;
Maximal and minimal invariant spaces of holomorphic functions on Cartan and Siegel domains.

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2.

Professor Dan Butnariu
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Dr. Butnariu uses tools of nonlinear and convex analysis, fixed point theory and Banach space geometry in order to design, study and improve computational procedures for finding solutions of decision making problems represented in mathematical form.
He is also interested in mathematical aspects of the theory of fuzzy sets as an instrument of modeling logical uncertainty often occurring in decision-making.
Dan Butnariu is the co-author of two monographs: Triangular norm Based Measures and Games with Fuzzy Coalitions (1993) written jointly with E.P. Klement and Totally Convex Functions for Fixed Point Computation and Infinite Dimensional Optimization (2001) written jointly with A.N. Iusem.
He authored and co-authored more than 70 mathematical articles.

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3.

Professor Yair Censor
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Dr. Censor works in Computational Mathematics where his main fields of interest include: Optimization Theory (mathematical theory and development of algorithms), Linear Algebra and Convex Analysis (large and sparse systems of linear and nonlinear equations or inequalities), Numerical Analysis, Inverse Problems, Optimization Theory Techniques in Image Reconstruction from Projections, Algorithms for Parallel Computing and Iterative methods in matrix balancing, game theory, transportation problems and binary tomography.
He has published over 80 research articles in refereed scientific journals, conference proceedings and as book chapters.
He co-authored with S.A. Zenios the book: Parallel Optimization: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA, 1997.

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4.

Dr. Joshua Feinberg
Department of Mathematics and Physics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa at Oranim

Dr. Feinberg researches non-perturbative methods in quantum field theory (QFT) and in statistical mechanics. QFT is the synthesis of special relativity and quantum mechanics.
Observed phenomena of elementary particle physics, down to a distance scale of a ten-thousandth the size of a proton are described by a QFT: the Standard Model of elementary particle physics.
QFT methods are applicable in other physical disciplines (e.g., statistical mechanics, condensed matter physics), and in mathematics (to stochastic processes, the theory of knot invariants and the Jones polynomial, in DonaldsonŐs theory).
Dr. Feinberg studies non-perturbative QFT issues such as vacuum (ground state) structure and the related issues of dynamical symmetry breaking the effects of external conditions, color confinement in quantum chromodynamics (QCD - the theory of strong interactions), extended objects (solitons, instantons, QCD strings, random surfaces and their random geometries), and fluctuations around them.
His work in condensed matter physics and statistical mechanics focuses on the study of disordered systems.

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5.

Professor Alex Gordon
Department of Mathematics and Physics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa at Oranim

Professor Alex GordonŐs areas of scientific interest are:
1. Magnetism of a non-spin nature in non-magnetic metals in high quantizing magnetic fields.
2. Equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase transitions and proton superconductors and the applications to crystal growth and construction of fuel cells.
3. Advanced, ŇsmartÓ, multifunctional materials and applied physics with applications to sensors, actuators, control capabilities and memory cells. 4. First-principle calculations of oxide fuel cell cathodes.

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6.

Dr. Gilad Lifschytz
Department of Mathematics and Physics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa at Oranim.

String theory is a theoretical framework for a unified description of all forces in nature including gravity.
Currently it is the only viable candidate for a theory of quantum gravity.
String theory describes all the particles in nature as different vibrations of strings (closed loops) moving in ten-dimensions, and all interactions between the particles as joining and splitting of the strings.
String theory relies heavily on advanced mathematics and the problems one needs to solve are formidable.
As such both analytical and numerical methods are used. Dr. Lifschytz research concerns the way space and time emerges in string theory, in order to uncover the true nature of space-time.
A useful guide to this, and a goal by itself is the understanding of the physics of black holes.

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7.

Dr. Reuven Granot
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Robotics is a multidisciplinary area and as being such, an introductory course enables students with mathematic background to receive first hand basic knowledge from scientific and engineering disciplines like physics, control engineering, system design and integration as well as more mathematically oriented applied areas from computer science like machine vision and artificial intelligence.
The research in robotics and telerobotics at University of Haifa is in its preliminary stages of organizing a laboratory oriented toward teaching and graduate level research.
The research will be focused in the area of development of software control agents to represent a human operator interfacing with a complex telerobotic system environment.
This activity should be based in addition to the software development environment also on experimental robotics, resulting in the need to be equipped with mobile robots and advanced robotic toys.


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8.

Professor Efrat Shimshoni
Department of Mathematics and Physics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa at Oranim.

Electronic systems cooled down to very low (sub Kelvin) temperatures exhibit a variety of fascinating phenomena, that are primarily manifested in terms of peculiar and anomalous conduction properties. These become particularly pronounced in systems of reduced dimensions (i.e., thin films or wires), and originate from the interplay of two ingredients: quantum mechanical effects, and strong correlations among the many particles, associated with their mutual interactions. These effects can lead to the emergence of a `correlated state', which can not be simply described as a collection of the original particles. Instead, one should define collective objects (`quasi-particles') which act as the `natural' building blocks of the system. My research focuses on the theoretical understanding of several examples of this scenario. These include transport phenomena in the fractional quantum Hall regime, which is characterized by the emergence of elementary quasi-particles whose charge is a fraction of the electron charge; the phase transition from a superconductor to insulator observed in thin metal films and or wires; and the anomalous electric and heat transport of strongly interacting electrons restricted to a one-dimensional channel, in which the charge and spin of the electrons effectively separate into two independent carriers, of charge only (`holons') and spin only (`spinons').

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9.

Professor Raphael Yuster
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Part of Prof. Yuster's research is in the area of combinatorial packing and covering problems. This area of research has interesting applications in theoretical computer science and in statistics. In these problems we are given a small fixed combinatorial object (e.g., a fixed small graph) and we wish to pack (or cover) a larger combinatorial object (e.g. a larger graph) with copies of the small object (a copy is a sub object of the large object which is isomorphic to the small object) . The goal is twofold: Find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a packing or covering of a certain size, and find efficient algorithms that construct an optimal (or almost optimal) packing (covering). In packing problems we require that no element (e.g. edge) of the large object appears in two distinct copies of the small object, while in covering problems we require that each element (e.g. edge) of the large object appears in at least one copy of the small object.


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10.

Dr. Toufik Mansour
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Dr. Mansour works in several areas of Combinatorics where his main fields of interest include: Enumerative of Combinatorics and algebraic Combinatorics. In particular, permutation patterns and word patterns. This field proved to be a useful language in a variety of seemingly unrelated problems, from stack sorting to the theory of Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials, singularities of Schubert varieties, Chebyshev polynomials, and rook polynomials. Here is a partial list of his research themes: Explicit enumeration for number of permutations (words, compositions, matrices) with different kinds of restrictions; Giving analogies of enumerative results on certain classes of permutations characterized by pattern-avoidance in the symmetric group; Counting elements of a given discrete structure (as the symmetric group, hyperoctahedral group, matrices with 0,1 entries, compositions, and matching words) with different restrictions; Combinatorial identities; Ordered patterns in words generated by morphisms; and Independent sets and graphs.


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11.

Prof. Shay Gueron
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Prof. Gueron works in Applied Mathematics where his main fields of interest include: Mathematical Biology, Applied Cryptography, Efficient Computational Algorithms.

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12.

Dr. Kobi Peterzil
Department of Mathematics
Faculty of Sciences and Science Education
University of Haifa

Dr. Kobi Peterzil's areas of scientific interest are: Model Theory of analytic structures and groups, O-minimal structures, connections between complex analytic geometry and model theory.

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