Mina Aganagić is a mathematical physicist who works as a professor in the Center for Theoretical Physics, the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Physics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career

Aganagić was raised in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. She has a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, in 1995 and 1999 respectively; her PhD advisor was John Henry Schwarz. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

physics department from 1999 to 2003. She then joined the physics faculty at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where she became a Sloan Research Fellow and a DOE Outstanding Junior Investigator. She moved to UC Berkeley in 2004. In 2016 the Simons Foundation gave her a Simons Investigator Award and the same year

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

had awarded her with its fellowship.

Research

She is known for applying string theory to various problems in mathematics, including

knot theory In topology, knot theory is the study of knot (mathematics), mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life, such as those in shoelaces and rope, a mathematical knot differs in that the ends are joined so it cannot be und ...

(refined Chern–Simons theory), enumerative geometry, mirror symmetry, and the geometric Langlands correspondence.

Selected publications

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References

External links

Physics Department home pageMath Department home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aganagic, Mina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Yugoslav emigrants to the United States California Institute of Technology alumni University of Washington faculty University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Bosnia and Herzegovina mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Mathematical physicists Simons Investigator 21st-century American women mathematicians American string theorists Fellows of the American Physical Society American women physicists 21st-century American women scientists Quantum physicists