Mathematical Genealogy

Close relations of the Top 100, by proximity score

Every PhD mathematician has an advisor, and every advisor has an advisor. The Mathematics Genealogy Project catalogs this lineage. We use it to surface close relations: researchers not in the Top 100 by publication count, but who sit in its immediate orbit through advisor-student relationships.

How the proximity score works

We build one graph from the advisor and student trees of all Top 100 researchers. A close relation is an outsider directly tied (as advisor or student) to at least two Top 100 researchers. Each gets a proximity score that sums, over those direct ties, 101 minus the connected researcher's rank. Being tied to the top of the list counts for much more than being tied to the bottom. Only direct ties count; people already in the directory and deceased mathematicians are excluded.

What this crawl covered

We crawled the advisor and student trees of the 87 Top 100 researchers who have an entry in the Mathematics Genealogy Project, and every node in those trees was fetched. The remaining 13 of the 100 have no entry in that database, so their lineage cannot be traced and this page cannot speak for them.

Level L1

Name	Institution	PhD year	Direct Top 100 ties	Proximity score
Taiyu Li	Shandong University	2012	3	222
Stefan Neumann	Universität Stuttgart	2006	2	175
Olli Järviniemi	University of Turku	2023	2	169
Haiwei Sun	Shandong University	2010	2	160
Dexian Zhang	Shandong University	2006	2	160
Zhefeng Xu	Shandong University	2011	2	160

Level L2

Name	Institution	PhD year	Direct Top 100 ties	Proximity score
Zhishan Yang	Shandong University	2013	2	160
Mattia Cafferata	Università degli Studi di Ferrara	2019	2	157
Damaris Schindler	University of Bristol	2013	2	156
Huafeng Liu	Shandong University	2017	2	155
Nikolai Korobov	Lomonosov Moscow State University	1948	2	148

Level L3

Name	Institution	PhD year	Direct Top 100 ties	Proximity score
Michael Filaseta	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	1984	2	118
Peter Sarnak	Stanford University	1980	2	74
Sofia Lindqvist	University of Oxford	2019	2	59
Alan Baker	University of Cambridge	1964	3	57
Xian-Jin Li (李小青)	Rutgers University, New Brunswick	2004	2	31

Notes

Taiyu Li (Shandong University, 2012): A mathematician (PhD Shandong University, 2012) directly tied to 3 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Stefan Neumann (Universität Stuttgart, 2006): A mathematician (PhD Universität Stuttgart, 2006) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Olli Järviniemi (University of Turku, 2023): A mathematician (PhD Turun yliopisto, 2023) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Haiwei Sun (Shandong University, 2010): A mathematician (PhD Shandong University, 2010) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Dexian Zhang (Shandong University, 2006): A mathematician (PhD Shandong University, 2006) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Zhefeng Xu (Shandong University, 2011): A mathematician (PhD Shandong University, 2011) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Zhishan Yang (Shandong University, 2013): A mathematician (PhD Shandong University, 2013) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Mattia Cafferata (Università degli Studi di Ferrara, 2019): A mathematician (PhD Università degli Studi di Ferrara, 2019) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Damaris Schindler (University of Bristol, 2013): A mathematician (PhD University of Bristol, 2013) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Huafeng Liu (Shandong University, 2017): A mathematician (PhD Shandong University, 2017) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Nikolai Korobov (Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1948): A mathematician (PhD Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1948) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Michael Filaseta (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1984): A mathematician (PhD University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1984) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Peter Sarnak (Stanford University, 1980): A mathematician (PhD Stanford University, 1980) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Sofia Lindqvist (University of Oxford, 2019): A mathematician (PhD University of Oxford, 2019) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Alan Baker (University of Cambridge, 1964): A mathematician (PhD University of Cambridge, 1964) directly tied to 3 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.
Xian-Jin Li (李小青) (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 2004): A mathematician (PhD Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 2004) directly tied to 2 Top 100 researchers through advisor-student relationships in the genealogy network.