Jonathan Buss

Professor Jonathan Buss joined the University of Waterloo upon completing his graduate studies. During his tenure, he has spent sabbaticals at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and the University of Washington. He has presented his work in conferences in the local geographic area, such as Toronto and Ithaca, NY (Cornell University), and around the world, from Crete to New Zealand.

Professor Buss works in the field of computational complexity, which considers the fundamental nature and limitations of computation. Computational complexity treats computation in mathematical terms; rather than using computers to do mathematical calculations, it uses mathematical analysis to understand computation. In the long term, a better understanding of the fundamental properties of computation leads to better use of existing computers and better design of new ones.

In addition to abstract work, Professor Buss has applied techniques of computational complexity to problems from parallel processing (minimizing the impact of processor failures), scientific computing (mesh generation), and the solution of algebraic equations.