Bernd Sturmfels

Professor of Mathematics,
Statistics and Computer Science

925 Evans Hall
Dept. of Mathematics
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720



Phone: (510) 642-4687
Fax: (510) 642-8204

Research Interests:
Discrete Mathematics, Algebraic Geometry, Commutative Algebra, Algebraic Statistics, Computational Biology


Office Hours (Fall 2008):
Wednesdays 9:00-11:00am and by appointment

Lectures on Algebraic Statistics

This book is based on the Oberwolfach seminar led by Mathias Drton, Seth Sullivant and myself in May 2008. Algebraic statistics is an emerging field, aimed at solving statistical inference problems using concepts from algebraic geometry as well as related computational and combinatorial techniques. This book is an introduction to newcomers from the different camps. It is centered around the three observations: many important statistical models correspond to algebraic or semi-algebraic sets of parameters; the geometry of these parameter spaces determines the behavior of widely used statistical inference procedures; computational algebraic geometry can be used to study parameter spaces and other features of statistical models. To learn more, please attend my course, Seth's course at SAMSI, or our MSRI workshop.

Semidefinite Optimization and Convex Algebraic Geometry

This is an multi-institutional FRG project funded by the National Science Foundation. The other participants are Bill Helton and Jiawang Nie at UC San Diego, Pablo Parrilo at MIT and Rekha Thomas at the University of Washington. One of its goals is to forge new connections between (real) algebraic geometry and optimization theory. Check out these slides for an upcoming lecture.

A Different Perspective

Joe Gallian and Ivars Peterson: "Mathematicians Have a Different Perspective: An Interview with Bernd Sturmfels" MAA Focus, Vol 28(1) January 2008, 4-7. Also, I now serve as a Vice President of the American Mathematical Society.

Can Biology Lead To New Theorems?

This is an article written for the Annual Report 2005 of the Clay Mathematics Institute. It argues for an affirmative answer to the question in the title. In future interactions between mathematics and biology, both fields will contribute to each other, and, in particular, research in the life sciences will inspire new theorems.

Algebraic Statistics for Computational Biology

This book, published by Cambridge University Press in October 2005, is based on a graduate seminar held by Lior Pachter and me at Berkeley.