I completed my undergraduate degree in Pure Mathematics in 1998; I studied at the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Belgrade in what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
I came to University of Oregon in 1999 to work on my PhD degree under the direction of Prof. Peter B. Gilkey. I defended my PhD thesis, "Spectral Geometry of the Riemann Curvature Tensor", in 2003.
My main research interests nowadays are in general relativity and the field of Einstein constraint equations. Roughly speaking, solutions of the Einstein constraint equations can be though of as the "spatial" geometry of our "universe" at a "particular moment in time". I use methods of Riemannian geometry and partial differential equations in my research.
Spectral geometry of the Riemann curvature tensor, my PhD thesis topic, remains to be one of my interests. Roughly speaking, it determines which of the geometries feature curvature with particular symmetries. The techniques I use in this research are mainly from linear algebra and algebraic topology: bundle theory and characteristic classes.
I am also interested in projective geometries whose isometry groups are exceptional Lie Groups. More specifically, I have worked with undergraduates at the Lewis and Clark College on the (semi-)Riemannian geometry of (para-)octonionic projective planes.
Here is the list of my publications:
Created by: Iva Stavrov, istavrov [at] lclark [dot] edu
Updated: August 31st 2009
