Jonathan Tannenhauser
Associate Teaching Professor in Mathematics
Background in theoretical particle physics, focusing on a conjectured equivalence between certain quantum field theories and certain string theories.
Professor Tannenhauser's background is in theoretical particle physics, where his work has focused on the the AdS/CFT correspondence, a conjectured equivalence between certain quantum field theories and certain string theories. More recently he has become interested in applying computational and statistical tools to the genomics of birdsong. The goal is to pinpoint which genes are expressed in a singing bird's brain and how the expression pattern changes over the course of brain development.
Education
- B.A., Harvard University
- M.A., University of California-Berkeley
- Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley
Current and upcoming courses
Differential Geometry and General Relativity
MATH313
Einstein's general theory of relativity conceives of gravity as a manifestation of the geometry of spacetime. In John Archibald Wheeler's summary: "Spacetime tells matter how to move; matter tells spacetime how to curve." Differential geometry supplies the mathematical language for describing curvature. We begin by defining and building up the relevant mathematical ideas: manifolds, tensors, covariant derivatives, geodesics, and the Riemann tensor. We then apply these ideas to the physics, developing the Einstein field equation and some of its consequences, including the Schwarzschild solution and black holes, cosmology, and gravitational waves.
(MATH 313 and PHYS 313 are cross-listed courses.)-
Elements of Analysis I
MATH302
Real analysis is the study of the rigorous theory of the real numbers, Euclidean space, and calculus. The goal is to thoroughly understand the familiar concepts of continuity, limits, and sequences. Topics include compactness, completeness, and connectedness; continuous functions; differentiation and integration; limits and sequences; and interchange of limit operations as time permits.