Peter Magyar's Homepage

Prof. PETER MAGYAR
Address:	Department of Mathematics Michigan State University 619 Red Cedar Road East Lansing, MI 48824-3402
Email:	magyarp@msu.edu
Office:	Wells Hall D-326
Office Hours:	Spr 2025 MWF 10:30-11:30am
Office Phone:	517-353-6330. Call anytime to see if I'm in.

Research

Publications

My Bio

MSU Math Dept

MathSciNet

ArXiv

Teaching I am Associate Professor at the Michigan State Math Department. In Fall 2023 I teach Math 411 and Math 880.
Some previous courses: Math 132 Calculus I Notes, Math 133 Calculus II Notes, Math 254H Honors Multivariable Calculus, Math 299 Transition to Formal Mathematics, Math 309 Advanced Linear Algebra, Math 310 Abstract Algebra I, Math 411 Abstract Algebra II, Math 419H Honors Abstract Algebra (also 2006), Math 481 Discrete Math I, Math 482 Discrete Math II, Math 880 Graduate Combinatorics I, Math 881 Graduate Graph Theory; also, my daily-quiz system for upper undergrad courses.
Research In elementary terms, group theory is the theory of symmetry. A symmetry is any way of moving an object onto itself, and the set of all symmetries of an object is its symmetry group. This has a natural binary operation: perform one symmetry after another to get a new symmetry; and this makes the symmetry group into something resembling a number system. A Lie group is the continuous symmetry group of a highly symmetric object such as the circle or the sphere. Representation theory starts with an abstract group (considered purely as an algebraic system) and describes the objects which have this symmetry.
My main field is representation theory, using tools from algebraic combinatorics and algebraic geometry. I study semi-simple complex Lie groups and the associated loop groups, representations, and homogeneous spaces (Grassmannians, flag varieties, affine Grassmannians). I am interested in Young tableaux and their generalizations, such as Littelmann paths and Kashiwara crystals. I have also done work on Schubert calculus and (affine) Schubert polynomials.
See my publications (also on the arXiv) and research statement.
Biography I got my Ph.D. from Harvard in 1993, and have taught at Michigan State since 2000. I became Associate Professor in 2006.
I was born in Budapest, Hungary, and immigrated with my family at age 4. I speak Hungarian and spent an undergrad year abroad in Budapest Semesters in Mathematics. My family. I am a Christian.
Fun Links
- M.C. Escher Art Gallery Escher animation (mind-blowing)
- Optical illusions: Starry Night, Green Dot
- Real projective plane Whitney umbrella
- Triangular lattice graph paper.
- Regular polytopes 3D: dodecahedron, icosahedron 4D: 5-cell, 8-cell, 16-cell, 24-cell, 120-cell, 600-cell
- Kinawa-Chippewa Math Circle Handouts: Modular Arithmetic, Public-Key Cryptography, Symmetry
- Math journal links