U-M mathematician awarded Sloan Fellowship

Charlotte Chan A University of Michigan mathematician is one of 118 early-career researchers selected to receive a 2022 Sloan Research Fellowship. Charlotte Chan , an assistant professor in the U-M Department of Mathematics, was awarded the fellowship for her work in representation theory, the study of symmetries using linear algebra. Representation theory is a subject that arises in fields of science such as physics, computer science and chemistry. For example, the representation theory of the rotational symmetries of a circle is Fourier analysis, a field that has extensive applications to science and engineering, Chan says. In particular, she focuses on representation theoretic problems "rooted in deep interactions with number theory and algebraic geometry.” "How can we use polynomials (algebraic geometry) to produce spaces with symmetries (representation theory) to understand phenomena about prime numbers (number theory)?” Chan said. "This is an old question, with lots of rich history and exciting new developments. It's a privilege to get to explore this picture-even seeing one new link is very invigorating.