Hanson Awarded NSF Award
Author: vsiefken
NSF Foundations Program funds research in model theory, continuous logic, and their applications across mathematics and computer science.
The Department of Mathematics congratulates Dr. James Hanson on receiving a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of $150,000 for his project, “Neostability and Continuous Logic”.
The three-year award, funded through the NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences’ Foundations Program, runs from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2029.
Dr. Hanson’s research focuses on model theory, a branch of mathematical logic that studies the behavior of mathematical structures and the logical principles governing them. The project investigates questions in neostability theory and continuous logic, areas that seek to extend powerful tools of modern logic to broader classes of mathematical structures, including metric-based objects such as Banach spaces, C*-algebras, and ℝ-trees.
Beyond its significance within pure mathematics, the research connects to topics including machine learning, formal verification of computer programs, numerical analysis, control theory, robotics, and quantum information theory. The work aims to develop new theoretical tools that help mathematicians better understand logical “tameness” and classification phenomena in both discrete and continuous settings.
According to the NSF award abstract, advances in model theory can support the development of more reliable automated reasoning systems and contribute to foundational questions related to artificial intelligence, formal proof systems, and mathematical structures arising in quantum mechanics.
Congratulations to Dr. Hanson on this significant achievement and the recognition of his research by the National Science Foundation.