Friday, June 12, 2015
Abbas's
research
interests
are
in
random
graphs,
extremal
graph
theory, probabilistic
combinatorics,
and
their
applications
in
theoretical
computer science.
His
Ph.D.
thesis Diameter
and
Rumor
Spreading
in
Real-World
Network
Models,
was
supervised
by
Professors Joseph
Cheriyan and Nick
Wormald.
The thesis
presents
an
elegant,
general
framework
for
proving
logarithmic upper
bounds
on
the
diameter
of
random
graphs
that
applies
to
many
models of
random
graphs
including
the
Webgraph
and
random
Apollonian
networks. The
thesis
also
addresses
the
dynamics
of
information
dissemination in
networks,
and
analyzes
the
well
known
push&pull
protocols
in
the
context of
rumour
spreading.
Abbas
has
been
remarkably
prolific.
He
has
written
23
research
articles,
many
of
which
have
been
published
in
top
journals
including
- Combinatorics, Probability and Computing;
- SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics;
- ACM Transactions on Algorithms;
- Journal of Graph Theory;
- Discrete and Compuational Geometry; and
- Random Structures and Algorithms.
Two of his articles, on the cops and robbers game, were co-authored with Professor Noga Alon.
During
his
graduate
studies,
Abbas
organized
several
reading
groups and
study
groups
on
advanced
research
topics.
He
was
a
recipient
of
a Vanier
Canada
Graduate
Scholarship
and
a
two-time
recipient
of
an Ontario
Graduate
Scholarship.
In
2015,
he
was
awarded
an
NSERC
Postdoctoral Fellowship.