Pedram Safari

Mathematics Preceptor

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Academic

Affiliations

• Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. In various capacities since 2006, currently as a Mathematics Preceptor.
• The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy. Visiting Fellow, 2004-05.
• Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM), Tehran, Iran. Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Fall 2001-Summer 2004.
• Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. Assistant Professor, 2000-2001.
• Columbia University, New York. Departmental Representative, Summers of 1999 and 2000; Preceptor, 1999-2000.

Education

• Columbia University, New York, NY; Ph.D. in Mathematics, May 2000.
• Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran; B.S. in Mathematics, summa cum laude, June 1993.

Research

Interests. Global Analysis, Differential Geometry, Gauge Theory, Geometric Evolution Equations, Mathematics Education and Pedagogy

Selected Bibliography

• “Gluing Seiberg-Witten Moduli Spaces”, mathematical monograph, Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010. ISBN: 978-3-8383-2763-1.
• “Gluing Seiberg-Witten Monopoles”, arxiv: math.DG/0311329, Comm. An. Geom, vol. 13, no. 4 (Oct. 2005), 697-725.
• “e-Publishing” (in Persian), Nashr-e Riyazi 26, vol. 14, no. 1 (2003), 17-34.
• “What is Seiberg-Witten theory?” (expository article in Persian), Nashr-e Riyazi 23, vol. 12, no. 1-2 (2001), 4-11.
• “A gluing theorem for Seiberg-Witten moduli spaces”, Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 2000.

Selected Talks

• "Seiberg-Witten monopoles and 4-manifold surgery", Algebraic Geometry Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Cal Tech, Pasadena, CA; May 5, 2008.
• "Gluing Monopoles", Differential Geometry and Geometric Analysis Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; December 7, 2007.
• "Gluing Seiberg-Witten Monopoles: an outline", Gauge Theory and Topology Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; March 23, 2007.
• "Gluing Seiberg-Witten Monopoles", Fakultät für Mathematik, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany; November 18, 2005.
• "Gluing Seiberg-Witten Monopoles: a mathematical approach", the Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy; March 31, 2004.
• "Floer Homology and Novikov Rings", Columbia Gauge Theory Seminar, June 1997.
• "Complex Analysis: The Geometric Viewpoint", Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 1993.
  This was a series of lectures (jointly with Saeed Zakeri), following a book by S. Krantz of the same title.
• "Perturbations of Hamiltonian Systems and Abelian Integrals", Dynamical Systems Seminar, Sharif University of Technology, 1992.
• "Linear Flows in the Complex Domain", weekly colloquium, Sharif University of Technology, 1991.

Teaching

Preceptor. To develop a mathematical curriculum for graduate students in social sciences to satisfy their ever-growing needs in methematical methods and modelling, as coming up in the study of various social phenomena, in disciplines as diverse as public health, psychology, education, government, social policy making, etc. Other responsibilities include mentoring graduate students in their mathematical projects and theses, as well as organizing workshops on various topics of interest, such as dynamical systems, game theory, network theory, optimization, etc.

Supervisor.

  2. Amin Gholampour, Symplectic Thom Conjecture, a review of the work of Szabó and Ozsváth, M.S. thesis, Sharif University, July 2002.
  1. Seyyed Mohsen Khalkhali, Finslerian Geometry as a Generalization of Riemannian Geometry, M.S. thesis, Sharif University, Oct. 2001.

Instructor. Responsibilities included preparing course materials, lecturing to classes of at most 30 students, designing quizzes and exams and assigning final grades. For most of these courses I have set up class pages, some of which may still be viewed at departmental websites. Courses range from elementary college courses as Pre-Calculus, College Algebra and Trigonometry, Linear Algebra, Calculus sequence, Introduction to Modern Analysis, and Elementary Differential Topology, to more advanced gradaute courses as Geometry of Manifolds II, Topics in the Geometry of Manifolds and Introduction to Seiberg-Witten theory....
I have also developed (and am developing) courses for graduate students in social sciences to provide them with the necessary intuition and skills in using mathematics.

Teaching Assistant. These involved 2--3 hours per week demonstrating principles and discussing problems using the computer algebra system Mathematica as well as the blackboard. Other responsibilities include holding office hours, holding review sessions and grading. I have assisted Calculus I-IV, Basic Topology, Honors Math, Modern Analysis and Modern Algebra.

Professional

Selected Activities

• Providing Persian sub-titles for the movie Dimensions (jointly with Leila Khatami).
  This movie is a mathematical exposition for the general public, produced with an international collaboration and translated to over 19 languages in its upcoming edition.
• Reviewer for the Mathematical Reviews, since January 15, 2004.
• Member of the Scientific Committee of the 2nd Iranian Geometry-Topology Conference. Amir-Kabir University , Tehran, Feb. 3-5, 2003.
• Co-editor of Shahyad, a festschrift in honor of S. Shahshahani's 60th birthday, May 31, 2002.
• Member of the Editorial Board of Nashr-e Riazi, an expositoray math journal in Persian. Tehran, 2002-2005.

Computer Skills

• Well acquainted with Mac-OS, UNIX, Windows and MS-DOS.
• Working knowledge of LaTeX, MS Word, Excel, Emacs, Xfig and Mathematica.
• Familiarity with various Adobe and Macromedia softwares.
• Rudiments of programming.

Languages

Persian (native), English (fluent), French (good; DELF: A2), Italian (fair), Arabic (good in reading), German (fair in reading), HTML (good), Java (fair).

References

• John Morgan, Columbia University
• Patrick Gallagher, Columbia University
• Clifford Taubes, Harvard University
• Cumrun Vafa, Harvard University
• Ramadas Ramakrishnan, The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy
• Siavash Shahshahani, IPM and Sharif University, Tehran, Iran