Sorin Popa
UCLA Mathematics Department,
Education
B.S., University of Bucharest, 1976;
M.S., University of Bucharest, 1977
Ph.D., University of Bucharest, 1983 (advisor
Dan Voiculescu)
Positions
Professor, UCLA Department of
Mathematics, 1987-present (Chair 2009-2012)
Professor, University of Geneva,
1996-1998
Principal Researcher, INCREST, 1977-87
Sabbaticals and Visiting Positions
Visiting Professor Institut de Mathematique
de Jussieu, April - December 2023
Institute Henri Poincare (Paris),
program "Groups Acting on Fractals, Hyperbolicity and
Self-Similarity", April 10-July 10, 2022.
MSRI Simons Visiting Professor
March-May 2020
Visiting Professor RIMS and Kyoto
University, April 2019
Newton Institute in Cambridge, member
of the program ``Subfactors'', Spring 2017.
Visiting
Professor Institut de Mathematique
de Jussieu (under a Chaire
FSMP-FMJH) July 2016-June 2017
Visiting
Professor RIMS and Kyoto University, September 2016
Hausdorff Institute in
Bonn, member/organiser of the program ``von
Neumann Algebras'', May-July 2016
Mittag-Leffler Institute, member of
the program in ``Classification
in Operator Algebras'', April 2016
Visiting Professor at CNRS and Institut de Mathematique de Jussieu Paris 6&7, July 2012-September 2013
Visiting Professor at Institut Henri Poincare (under a Chaire
Blaise Pascal), April-July 2011
Visiting Professor, College de France and
CNRS, 2004-2005
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Yearlong Member 2000-2001
Visiting Professor, University of Paris 6
& 7, 1992, 1995-1996, Summer 2001
Visiting Professor, E. Schroedinger Institute, Viena, Austria, Summer 1994
Institut des hautes Etudes Scientifiques
Yearlong Member 1991-1992
Visiting Professor, Institute des Hautes
Etudes Scientifiques, June 1989, Spring 1990
Grants 1995-present
NSF-Grant DMS-1955812: Ergodic
embeddings, bimodule decomposition, and structure of II$_1$ factors,
2020-2024
NSF Grant DMS-1700344: Rigidity,
L^2-cohomology, and approximate embeddings in II_1 factors, 2017-2020
NSF Grant DMS-1400208: Approximation,
Deformation-Rigidity, and Classification in II_1 Factor Framework, 2014-2017
NSF Grant DMS-1101718, 2011-2014;
NSF Grant DMS-0100883, 2001-2006; NSF Grant DMS-0605456, 2006-2011
Fond National Suisse Grant,
1996-1998; NSF Grant DMS-9500882, 1995-1998; NSF Grant DMS-9801324, 1998-2001
Honors, special recognition, etc
Elected to the
National Academy of Sciences, April 2025.
Takesaki
Endowed Chair in Operator Alegbras 2018-present
Simons Participant and Senior Fellow
IPAM Program ``Quantitative Linear Algebra'' Spring 2018
The John von Neumann Lecture,
Muenster University, May 4th 2017
Distinguished Lecture Series College de France, Paris, Nov. 10-24, 2016
Chaire d'Excellence Fondation
des Sciences Mathematiques de Paris (FSMP) and Chaire Mathematique Jacques
Hadamard (FMJH), July 2016- June 2017
Simons Fellow in
Mathematics 2016-2017
Plenary speaker at the Congress of Scandinavian Math
Society, March 20th 2016.
Coble
Lectures Univ. of Illinois Urbana Champaign Feb 2-4, 2016
Coxeter Lecture Series, Fields Institute, May 2014
Takagi
Lecture May 2013
Elected to the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences 2013
Fellow of the American Math Society
2012
Simons Fellow in Mathematics
2012-2013
E. H. Moore Research
Article Prize 2010 (of the American Math Society)
Ostrowski
Prize 2009
Chaire Blaise Pascal 2009
Plenary Speaker Canadian
Mathematical Society Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Dec 2008
Bourbaki Seminar given by S. Vaes on
items [57,64,70,73] of my Publications, June 2007
Plenary Speaker International
Congress of Mathematics,
College de France Medal and Special Lecture Series,
Nov. 2004
Plenary Speaker AMS Meeting,
Vanderbilt University, Oct. 2004
Bourbaki Seminar
given by A. Connes on item [58] of my Publications,
June 2003
Invited Address Joint Annual AMS Meeting,
San Antonio, Jan. 1999
Top 250 most
cited mathematicians in Thompson Reuters
(http://highlycited.com/categories/mathematics) 2000
Guggenheim Fellow, 1995-1996
CBMS Lecture Series ``Classification of
subfactors and related topics", Univ. of Oregon 1993
Invited Address Section 9 International
Congress of Mathematics, Kyoto, Japan , 1990.
The Simion Stoilov Prize of the Romanian Academy of Sciences, 1981
Ph.D. Graduates
Dietmar Bisch (1991) Professor
Vanderbilt University
Florin Radulescu (1991) Professor
University of Rome 2
Florin Boca (1993) Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tullio Ceccherini (1994) Professor University
of Benevento, Italy
Mihai Petrescu (1997) Video-Software
Company, California.
Remus Nicoara (2004) Associate
Professor, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Roman Sasyk
(2004) Associate Professor University of Buenos Aires
Jesse Peterson (2006) Associate
Professor Vanderbilt University
Adrian Ioana (2007) Professor
UCSD
Ionut Chifan
(2009) Associate Professor, Univ. of Iowa.
Hiroki Sako (2009; jointly with Yasu
Kawahigashi) Associate Professor, Niigata University, Japan
Adam Winchester (2012) Software
Company Los Angeles
Owen Sizemore (2012) Software
Company, Wisconsin Madison
Brian Leary (2015), Associate
Professor at West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Alin Galatan
(2016) software engineer at Twitter Company
Andreas Aaserud (2016), High School
Mathematics Teacher, Copenhagen Denmark
Patrick Hiatt (2024), postdoc
instructor UCSD
Recent Postdocs at UCLA
Cyril Houdayer, 2007-2009 (Hedrick
postdoc)
Thomas Sinclair, 2011-2014
(RTG-Hedrick postdoc)
David Penneys, 2014-2016 (UCLA
postdoc)
Brian Leary, 2015-2016 (UCLA
adjunct)
Yusuke Isono, 2015-2016 (Japan
postdoc fellowship at UCLA)
Daniel Hoff, 2016-2020 (RTG Hedrick,
then Adjunct)
Rolando de Santiago, 2017-2020 (RTG Hedrick, then
UC President Fellow)
March Boedihardjo, 2016-2020
(Hedrick, then Adjunct)
Pieter Spaas,
2019-2022 (Hedrick postdoc)
Srivatsav Kunnawalkam
Elayavalli, 2022-2023 (IPAM/UCLA Simons Postdoctoral Fellow)
Changying Ding, 2023-2026 (Hedrick
postdoc)
Hui Tan, 2024-2027 (Hedrick Postdoc)
Recent Professional Service
Coorganizer (with Dai Evans, Masaki Izumi and Yoshiko
Ogata) of the Workshop ``Subfactor Theory'', at Newton
Institute, Cambridge, June 26-30, 2023.
Coorganizer
(with Sri Kunnawalkam-Elayavalli and Dima
Shlyakhtenko) of the Conference ``Modern Trends in Operaor Algebra'', UCLA,
March 25-29, 2023.
Coorganizer
(with Dietmar Bisch and Dima Shlyakhtenko) of the Workshop ``von Neumann
algebras'',
Hausdorf Institute for Mathematics (HIM), University
of Bonn, August 28th- September 2nd, 2022.
Coorganizer (with Alice Guionnet, Assaf Naor, Gilles
Pisier, Dima Shlyakhtenko, Nikhil Srivastava, Terry Tao) of the Program
``Quantitative Linear Algebra'', 03/19-06/15 2018, IPAM (UCLA)
Coorganizer (with Damien Gaboriau, Cyril Houdayer and
Stefaan Vaes) of the conference ``von Neumann Algebras and
Measured Group Theory'', July 3-7, 2017, IHP (Paris)
Coorganiser (with D. Bisch, V.F.R. Jones and D.
Shlyakhtenko) of the Program ``von
Neumann Algebras'', Hausdorff Institute in Bonn,
May 2 - August 15 2016.
Coorganiser (with Dima Shlyakhtenko) of the UCLA
mini-conference ``Ergodic
Theory and Logic'', January 15th, 2016.
Coorganiser (with A. Ioana, J. Peterson, D.
Shyakhtenko) of the UCLA Workshop ``von Neumann
algebra and Ergodic Theory'', September 2014.
Coorganiser of the Summer School in ``Rigidity and
Group Actions'', Paris, June 13-28, 2013.
Coorganizer of the UCLA Workshop ``von Neumann
Algebras and Ergodic Theory'', May 2012, March 2009,
March 2007.
Coorganiser (with Damien Gaboriau and Stefaan Vaes) of the program Von Neumann algebras and ergodic
theory of group actions, April 18 - July 9, 2011, IHP (Paris).
Coorganizer (with A. Ioana, N. Ozawa, Y. Shalom) of the Special Session ``von Neumann
Algebras and Ergodic Theory'', AMS Meeting, UCLA Oct 10-12, 2010.
Coorganiser of Spring Institute ``Non-commutative
geormetry and Operator Algebras'', Vanderbilt, May
2010.
Coorganizer of the Oberwolfach Conference in ``von Neumann Algebras and
Ergodic Theory'', Oct. 26-30, 2008.
Coorganizer of the Fields Institute Workshop in ``von
Neumann Algebras'', Oct 29-Nov 2, 2007.
Coorganizer of the UCLA Workshop ``von Neumann
Algebras and Ergodic Theory'', March 2007.
Coorganizer of the UCLA Conference ``Beyond
Amenability: Groups, Actions and Op. Alg. '', May 2006
Coorganizer of the AMS
Section Meeting ``von Neumann Algebras'',
Vanderbilt Univ., October 2004
Coorganizer of the UCLA Conference ``von Neumann
Algebras and Ergodic Theory'', May 2003
Editor: Pacific Journal of Mathematics (1999-2023).
Editorial Board: Journal of the American Mathematical Society
(2005-2012), Journal of Operator Theory (Editor 1986-1988), Annali dell'Universita di Ferrara,
Revue Roumaine de Math. Pures
et Appl., PanAmerican Mathematical Journal
Co-Editor of the Clay Math Institute Proceedings ``Non-commutative Geometry'', April 2007 Conference in honour of A. Connes.
ICM 2010 Panel Section 9 Speaker Committee (Chair)
ICM 2018 Program Committee, 2016-2018 (member)
ICM 2022 Panel Speaker Committee for Section 8 (Analysis), 2020-2022
(member)
Committee member for the inaugural ``Foias
Prize in Operator Theory'' 2021.
Committee member for the E.H. Moore Research Article Prize of the AMS
2024-2027.
Selected
Recent Talks
Invited talk at the Conference ``Operator
Algebras and Mathematical Physics (Yasu's Festa)'',
Tokyo University, July 24-28, 2023.
Invited talk at
the Conference ``Subfactor Theory'', Newton Institute,
Cambridge, June 26-30, 2023.
Invited talk at the Workshop ``Where
mathematics Meets Quantum Physics: a workshop on the occasion
of Roberto Longo's 70th birthday'',
Rome, June 21-23, 2023.
Invited talk at the Conference ``Groups
and Operator Algebras'', Inst. of Math. Orsay, June
6-9, 2023.
Invited talk at the Conference ``Modern Trends in
Operator Algebras'', UCLA, March 25-29, 2023.
Invited talk at the Workshop ``von Neumann
algebras and geometric group theory'', UCSD, Feb.
1012, 2023.
Invited talk at
the Oberwolfach meeting in ''C*-algebras",
August 7-13, 2022.
Invited speaker at the Satellite ICM Converence "Operator Algebras, Dynamics, Groups and
Applications", U. of Copenhagen (Denmark), July 1-4, 2022.
Invited speaker ``Memorial Conference for Dick
Kadison'', Copenhagen Univ., Nov 29-30, 2019
Invited speaker Banff Workshop
``Classification problems in vN algebras'', Oct 1-4,
2019
Invited talk Oberwolfach
Conference ``C*-algebras'', August 12-18, 2019
Invited talk GPOTS, May 28-June 1 2019
Colloquium talk Kyoto University
April 24, 2019
KTGU Lecture Series RIMS and Kyoto
University, April 8-12, 2019
Invited talks at the Workshops of
the Program ``Quantitative Linear Algebra'', March-May, 2018.
Invited talk at the AIM Conference
on ``Classification of group von Neumann algebras'', Jan 29-Feb 2, 2018
Invited talk, Conference
"Non-commutative geometry" in honor of A. Connes
70th birthday, Fudan Univ. Shanghai, 03/28-04/02 2017
Invited talk at the workshop
``Subfactors'', Newton Institute, Cambridge, UK, January 22-27, 2017
Colloquium talks at Bordeaux
University (October 2016) and Univ. of South Paris (March 2017).
Invited talk at the Conference``Recent progress in
Operator Algebra'', Kyoto University, Sept. 9-12, 2016.
KTGU
Lecture Series RIMS and Kyoto University, Sept. 5-9, 2016
Invited talk at the Oberwolfach Conference in ``C*-Algebras'',
August 21-27, 2016.
Series of talks at the ``Operator
Algebras and Mathematical Physics'' Conference in Sendai (Japan),
August 1-14, 2016
Invited Speaker at the CMTP
Conference Operator
Algebras and Conformal Field Theory in Rome June 27-29, 2016
Invited Speaker at the ``Haagerup
Symposium'', Coopenhagen June 24-26, 2016
Invited Speaker NCGOA
Conference at Hausdorff Institute May 17-25,
2016
Talk at the Mittag-Leffler Institute
April 2016
Invited Speaker ``Non-commutative
Geometry'' Conference for G. Skandalis' 60th, CIRM (Luminy),
November 2015.
Invited Speaker ``East Coast
Operator Algebra Conference'',
U. of Iowa, Oct 2015.
Invited talk at Oberwolfach
Conference in ``Non-commutative Geometry'', June 2015.
Invited speaker ``Great Plains Operator Theory''
Conf. Purdue University, May 2015.
Mini Course at the Spring Institute Non-Commutative
Geometry and operator Algebras, Vanderbilt Univ. May 2015
Series of talks at the Operator
Algebra Conference, Te Anau, New Zealand, January
2014
Colloquium talk UCLA October
2013
Series of talks at the Summer School
in ``Rigidity and Group Actions'', Paris, June 13-28, 2013
Invited speaker ``Mathematics and
quantum physics'', Academia dei Lincei, Rome, July 8-12, 2013
Invited Speaker ``von Neumann
algebras and measurable group theory'', Leuven University, July 1-4, 2013.
Invited Speaker ``Math Physics
and Operator Algebra'',
University of Milano, December 2012.
Invited Speaker ``10 years anniversary of
Journal of Inst Math Jussieu'', November 2012.
Invited Speaker ``Interactions
Between Ergodic Theory, Number Theory and Noncommutative Geometry'' Conference at Ohio State
University, May 2012.
Colloquium Lecture UC San Diego,
April 2012.
Invited speaker ``von Neumann
Algebras and Related Topics'' conference at RIMS (Kyoto, Japan), Jan 2012.
Chaire
Blaise Pascal Closing Conference, Institut Math Jussieu, Oct 2011
Colloquium Lecture University of
Rome II (Italy), June 2011
Lecture Series at the Program von
Neumann Algebras and Ergodic Theory of Group Actions, Institut Henri Poincare May 2011
Mini Course at the Spring Institute Non-Commutative
Geometry and operator Algebras, Vanderbilt Univ. May 2010
Invited Speaker ``Operator
Algebras Conference in Honor of Uffe Haagerup's 60the birthday'', Coopenhagen April 2010.
Colloquium Lecture
Invited Speaker SUMIRFAS Conference,
Invited Speaker ``Non-commutative
Geometry'' Coference in Honor
of Ricu Moscovici 65th Birthday, Max Planck
Institute,
Main Speaker
``East Coast Operator Algebra'' meeting,
Invited Speaker ``Operator Algebras'', Oberwolfach Aug 2008.
Invited Speaker ``Geometry,
Rigidity and Group Actions'', Conference in Honor
of Bob Zimmer 60'th Bithday, Sept. 6-9, 2007,
Invited Speaker ``von Neumann
Algebras and Non-Commutative Geometry'', Coference
in Honor of Alain Connes 60'th Bithday,
April 2-6, 2007, Inst Henri Poincare (Paris)
Invited Speaker ``Groupoids in
Oper.
Institut Henri Poincare (
Invited Speaker
``US-Japan Conference in Operator Algebras'',
Invited Speaker
``von Neumann algebras''
Invited Speaker
``Logic and Mathematics''
Colloquium lectures University of
Michigan and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Feb. 2006
Invited Speaker
``Geom. and prob. methods in group theory and
dyn. sys.''
Main Speaker ``East Coast
Operator Algebra''
Conference,
Invited Speaker ``Operator
Algebra'' Conference, Oberwolfach (
Invited Lecture ``Group actions,
rigidity and dynamics'',
Minicourse Lecturer, ``Spring
Institute on Noncommutative Geometry'',
Main Speaker, ``Geometric Group Theory
and Harmonic Analysis'',
Cortona, June 2004
Colloquium Lecture
Main Speaker, School in ``von Neumann
Algebras'', Marseille, February 2004
Main Speaker: ``Group Theory'',