Professor Sergey Kitaev
Mathematics and Statistics
Personal statement
I am Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science. I also serve as the Head of the Mathematical and Stochastic Analysis Group, the co-Head of the Applied and Discrete Analysis Group, and the Head of the Strathclyde Combinatorics Group. I am an editor of Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A (JCTA), Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society (PEMS), and Enumerative Combinatorics and Applications (ECA). My research interests include, but are not limited to, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Discrete Analysis, Formal Languages and Optimisation.
Recent research has included studies in the theory of patterns in combinatorial structures and the theory of word-representable graphs. My book Patterns in Permutations and Words, published by Springer (EATCS monographs in Theoretical Computer Science book series) in 2011, is the first comprehensive source over results and trends in the fast-growing field of patterns in permutations and words. My other book Words and Graphs, published by Springer (EATCS monographs in Theoretical Computer Science book series) in 2015, is a comprehensive introduction to the theory of word-representable graphs that I pioneered alone, a field enjoying ever greater attention by other researchers, and with the ultimate goal of finding applications for analysis of algorithms on graphs and robot scheduling. Also, I'm involved in a project on optimal distribution of resources across a city or a region.
In 2025, I received the Best of Science award at the University of Strathclyde Teachig Excellence Awards.
See my personal page for more information.
Area of Expertise
- Discrete Mathematics
- Enumerative, Bijective and Algebraic Combinatorics
- Graph Theory
- Discrete Analysis
- Formal Languages
Prize And Awards
- Best of Science award at the University of Strathclyde Teachig Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2025
- Leverhulme Research Fellowship
- Recipient
- 2023
- London Mathematical Society Computer Science Small Grant of £1,200
- Recipient
- 2021
- Scottish Mathematical Sciences Training Centre grant (£8,000)
- Recipient
- 2020
- London Mathematical Society grant of £700
- Recipient
- 2018
- Most cited article published by the Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A
- Recipient
- 2018
Publications
- Patterns in permutations and words
- Kitaev Sergey
- Monographs in Theoretical Computer Science. An EATCS Series Monographs in Theoretical Computer Science. An EATCS Series (2011)
- (2+2)-free posets, ascent sequences and pattern avoiding permutations
- Bousquet-Melou Mireille, Claesson Anders, Dukes Mark, Kitaev Sergey
- Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series A Vol 117, pp. 884-909 (2010)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcta.2009.12.007
- Crucial words and the complexity of some extremal problems for sets of prohibited words
- Evdokimov A, Kitaev Sergey
- Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series A Vol 105, pp. 273-289 (2004)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcta.2003.12.003
- Word problem of the Perkins semigroup via directed acyclic graphs
- Kitaev Sergey, Seif Steven
- Order Vol 25, pp. 177-194 (2008)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11083-008-9083-7
- Alternation graphs
- Halldorsson Magnus, Kitaev Sergey, Pyatkin Artem
- Graph-theoretic concepts in computer science 37th International workshop on graph-theoretic concepts in computer science, 2011 Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol 6986, pp. 191-202 (2011)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25870-1_18
- Enumerating (2+2)-free posets by indistinguishable elements
- Dukes Mark, Kitaev Sergey, Remmel Jeffrey, Steingrimsson Einar
- Journal of Combinatorics Vol 2, pp. 139-163 (2011)
- https://doi.org/10.4310/JOC.2011.v2.n1.a6
Teaching
- Combinatorics
- Graph Theory
- Discrete Mathematics
- Computability and Complexity
- Algorithms
- Business Analytics
Research Interests
- Combinatorics
- Graph Theory
- Discrete Analysis
- Formal Languages
Professional Activities
- AMS-MAA joint Meetings
- Invited speaker
- 15/1/2010
- AMS-MAA joint Meetings
- Invited speaker
- 12/1/2013
- International Permutation Patterns Conference
- Keynote/plenary speaker
- 8/7/2014
- Member of the Steering Committee of the Permutation Patterns Conference (Event)
- Member
- 2014
- Journal of Discrete Mathematics (Journal)
- Editor
- 2012
- 10th International Conference on Permutation Patterns
- Chair
- 11/6/2012
Projects
- Global Engagements: Sergey Kitaev University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
- Kitaev, Sergey (Academic)
- The main goal of the proposal is to develop a formal agreement on cooperation between the Department of Mathematics at the UCSD and the Computer and Information Sciences Department at Strathclyde.
- 07-Jan-2014 - 06-Jan-2015
- Shortening universal words and DNA sequence assembly
- Kitaev, Sergey (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
- Riordan graphs
- Kitaev, Sergey (Principal Investigator)
- The theory of Riordan matrices is used to introduce the notion of a Riordan graph. The Riordan graphs are a far-reaching generalization of the well known and well studied Pascal graphs and Toeplitz graphs, and also some other families of graphs. The Riordan graphs are proved to have a number of interesting (fractal) properties, which can be useful in creating computer networks with certain desirable features, or in obtaining useful information when designing algorithms to compute values of graph invariants. The main focus of the project is study of structural and spectral properties of families of Riordan graphs obtained from infinite Riordan graphs.
- 22-Jan-2017 - 21-Jan-2019
Contact
Professor
Sergey
Kitaev
Mathematics and Statistics
Email: sergey.kitaev@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3804