The first superpolynomial improvement on the Erdős–Szekeres bound for diagonal Ramsey numbers originated in the research of Irish mathematician David Conlon. Born in 1982, Conlon has focused his career on the intricacies of combinatorics, establishing himself as a significant figure within the fields of extremal graph theory, combinatorial number theory, and the application of probabilistic methods.
Early Mathematical Development
Conlon engaged in competitive mathematics early in his career, representing Ireland at the International Mathematical Olympiad during both 1998 and 1999. His formal academic training began as an undergraduate student at Trinity College Dublin. During his time there, he achieved recognition as a Scholar in 2001 and completed his graduation in 2003. He subsequently pursued advanced studies at the University of Cambridge, where he was awarded a PhD in 2009.
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Throughout his professional life, Conlon has held various teaching and research positions across several institutions. His early career included a fellowship at St John's College between 2007 and 2010, followed by a tenure at the University of Cambridge from 2010 to 2011. He later served as a fellow at Wadham College and as a Professor of Discrete Mathematics within the Mathematics Institute at the University of Oxford from 2011 until 2019. In 2019, he transitioned to the California Institute of Technology. Additionally, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics from 2015 to 2020.
Research Contributions and Recognition
Conlon’s work is primarily situated in Hungarian-style combinatorics, with notable progress made in Ramsey theory and Sidorenko's conjecture. His analysis of Sidorenko's conjecture demonstrated that for any bipartite graph H, uniformly random graphons contain the fewest subgraphs isomorphic to H when edge density remains constant. His contributions to the field earned him the European Prize in Combinatorics in 2011. In 2019, he received the Whitehead Prize in recognition of his extensive work across combinatorial disciplines.
Fast facts
- Born: 1982
- Nationality: Ireland
- Field of work: Combinatorics
- PhD: University of Cambridge, 2009
- European Prize in Combinatorics recipient: 2011
- Whitehead Prize recipient: 2019
- Current affiliation: California Institute of Technology
Questions readers ask
What is David Conlon’s primary research focus?
He specializes in combinatorics, specifically Ramsey theory, extremal graph theory, combinatorial number theory, and probabilistic methods.
Where has David Conlon held academic positions?
He has held posts at St John's College, the University of Cambridge, Wadham College, the University of Oxford, and the California Institute of Technology.
Achievements
- Whitehead Prize — 2019
- European Prize in Combinatorics — 2011
- Held posts at University of Oxford, California Institute of Technology and Wadham College
- Fields: combinatorics
