Louis Theran

Louis Theran is a Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews, where he has been a faculty member since 2016. His academic journey includes postdoctoral positions at Aalto University, Freie Universität Berlin, and Temple University, supported by grants from the NSF, ERC, and AKA. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, advised by Ileana Streinu.

• PhD, Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2010)
• MS, Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2007)
• BS, Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2006, cum laude)

Theran's research centers on discrete geometry and combinatorial rigidity, particularly the rigidity of frameworks with symmetry, periodicity, and sparsity constraints. He explores theoretical foundations and applications in materials science, machine learning, and geometric constraint systems. His work often bridges pure mathematics and computational methods.

His recent publications reveal a strong trend in unlabeled rigidity problems, maximum likelihood thresholds in graphical models using rigidity theory, and the combinatorial analysis of symmetric and periodic frameworks. These works appear in top journals across mathematics, statistics, and applied sciences, indicating interdisciplinary impact. Key themes include graph sparsity, matroid theory, and algorithmic implementations like pebble games.

• NSF/KOSEF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes Fellowship (2006)
• PI, Heilbronn Small Grant: Discrete structures (2021)
• Coordinator, AScI Thematic Program on Large Geometric Structures (2014–2017)

Theran has advised numerous PhD, MMath, and BSc students at the University of St Andrews, Lancaster, and Temple University, with projects ranging from rigidity theory to surreal numbers and zero-knowledge proofs. He has secured research funding and supervised student theses on topics in discrete geometry, combinatorics, and computational mathematics. His service includes organizing workshops and conferences such as the SIAM AG2017 mini-symposium and the Fields Institute workshop on rigidity.

He is actively involved in the academic community as an organizer of the Pure Colloquium at St Andrews and has held leadership roles in admissions. He serves on research committees and referees for top journals including Discrete & Computational Geometry, SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, and Advances in Mathematics.