Daniel Dominic Kaplan Sleator

Daniel Dominic Kaplan Sleator is a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. He maintains an office in the Gates-Hillman Center (7205 Gates-Hillman) and teaches various courses in algorithms and theoretical computer science.

Professor Sleator's research spans several areas of theoretical computer science and algorithms. His primary interests include:

• Algorithms and Data Structures
• Amortized Analysis and Competitive Analysis
• Persistent and Self-Adjusting Data Structures
• Computational Geometry and Combinatorial Optimization
• Combinatorial Game Theory and Mathematical Games
• Music Analysis using Computational Methods

His extensive publication record shows a consistent focus on efficient data structures and algorithms. Over the years, his work has evolved from foundational data structures like splay trees and skew heaps to applications in diverse areas such as music analysis and combinatorial games. A notable trend in his work is the development of self-adjusting data structures that achieve excellent amortized performance without maintaining explicit structural constraints. His papers on splay trees, skew heaps, and persistent data structures have become classics in the field.

Professor Sleator has made significant contributions across multiple domains of computer science. His work on competitive algorithms for paging and list update problems has been particularly influential, establishing fundamental results in online algorithms. His research extends beyond traditional computer science into interdisciplinary areas like computational music theory, demonstrating the broad applicability of algorithmic thinking.

He teaches a variety of courses including Algorithms 15-451/651, Competition Programming 15-295, and specialized topics like mathematical games.