School of Mathematics

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Geoff Vasil

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Contact details

Research Interests

Research Groups

Current and Recent PhD Students

Miru Park (current)

James Chok (current)

Sid Holden (current)

Eric Hester (recent U. Sydney, now Hendrik Assistant Prof., UCLA Mathematics Dept.)

Matt Cassell (recent U. Sydney)

Biographical Statement

Dr Vasil did his PhD in Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics at the University of Colorado. Before that, he studied mixtures of Pure and Applied Mathematics, and Theoretical Physics. He works on topics surrounding Physical Applied Maths, Fluid Mechanics, Plasma Physics, Solar Magnetohydrodynamics and Mathematical Computing.

Since 2012, he has been a founding core-team member of the open-source Dedalus project: http://dedalus-project.org

Recently, Dr Vasil has been expanding into new areas. On the more pure side, the rich geometric and combinatorial structures surrounding orthogonal polynomials and special functions (useful, e.g., for the computational framework underlying Dedalus). This includes applications to probability, combinatorics, optimisation and mathematical physics. Further on the applied side, Dr Vasil has been studying differential equations on networks with contiguous edges. This work has wide-ranging applications in mathematical biology and condensed matter physics.

Interested prospective students and possible collaborators are encouraged to get in touch!

Education Background

PhD: Astrophysical, Planetary & Atmospheric Science, University of Colorado

MS: Mathematics, New York University

BS: Mathematical and Computer Science, Colorado School of Mines.

Previous Employment

2013-2022, Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney

2016 & 2018, Staff Member, GFD Summer Program, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

2012-2013, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Theoretical Astrophysics & Astronomy Dept., University of California, Berkeley

2009-2012, Postdoctoral Fellow, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto

2008-2009, Instructor, Dept. of Applied Math, University of Colorado.

2008-2009, Research Associate, JILA, University of Colorado.