Sean Howe

Sean Howe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Utah, where he has been employed since July 2019. His research is supported by NSF grants DMS-2201112 and DMS-2501816. In the academic year 2023-2024, he was a Friends of the Institute for Advanced Study Member at the special year on p-adic arithmetic geometry at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Dr. Howe received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2017 under the supervision of Matt Emerton. Prior to his position at Utah, he was an NSF Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University from September 2017 to June 2019. He earned a joint master's degree from Leiden University and Universite Paris-Sud 11 through the ALGANT program in 2012 and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Howe's research spans arithmetic and algebraic geometry, representation theory, and number theory, with a particular focus on p-adic aspects. His work often explores the connections between geometry and number theory through the lens of p-adic methods, including p-adic Hodge theory, perfectoid spaces, and the Langlands program. He has made significant contributions to understanding cohomological structures in mixed characteristic settings, the geometry of moduli spaces, and the statistical properties of L-functions.

His extensive publication record demonstrates a strong trajectory in advancing p-adic geometry and its applications. Recent work shows increasing focus on cohomological smoothness in mixed characteristic, p-adic periods, and the interplay between random matrix theory and arithmetic statistics. His research often bridges abstract theoretical frameworks with concrete computational approaches.

• NSF Postdoctoral Scholar
• NSF grants DMS-2201112 and DMS-2501816

Dr. Howe is an active mentor, currently advising five PhD students: Minhua Cheng, Madison Delmoe, Shea Engle, Abhay Goel, and Suo Jun Tan. He has successfully graduated two PhD students: Matthew Bertucci (2025) and Hanlin Cai (2024). He also regularly mentors undergraduate researchers, with notable projects including Emil Geisler's work on stable multiplicities in configuration space cohomology and Daniel Koizumi's software for computing braid monodromy of cubic surfaces.

His teaching portfolio includes advanced courses in algebraic topology, number theory, and algebra, reflecting his broad expertise across pure mathematics. He has taught courses such as Math 6950 (Topics in Algebraic Topology), Math 4400 (Introduction to Number Theory), and Math 6320 (Modern Algebra II).