Simon Thomas

Simon Thomas is a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, specializing in set theory, model theory, and infinite group theory. He is actively involved in teaching and research, with a focus on classification problems in group theory and descriptive set theory.

Research Interests

Thomas's research spans a broad range of topics within mathematical logic and group theory. His primary interests include:

• Set Theory: Focus on foundational aspects and applications to group theory.
• Model Theory: Investigations into the structure of models and their implications for group classification.
• Infinite Group Theory: Study of infinite groups, particularly in the context of descriptive set theory and ergodic theory.

His work often involves the interplay between logic and group theory, leading to significant contributions to understanding the complexity of classification problems for various classes of groups.

Scientific Contributions

Thomas has authored numerous papers on the classification of groups using tools from descriptive set theory and ergodic theory. His research includes studies on torsion-free abelian groups, finitely generated groups, and Borel equivalence relations. Notable contributions include work on the automorphism tower problem, superrigidity phenomena, and the complexity of isomorphism relations for various algebraic structures.

Teaching and Mentorship

Thomas teaches courses in set theory and logic at Rutgers, including Math 361: Set Theory. He also organizes the Rutgers Logic Seminar, a weekly meeting that brings together researchers in logic and related fields from around the world. The seminar covers topics in set theory, model theory, and applications to algebra and computer science.