Alistair Sinclair
ProfessorInfo Links
Research Areas
Theory (THY)Randomized algorithms; applied probability; statistical physics
Research Centers
Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing (SITC)Teaching Schedule
Fall 2020
CS 294-180. Partition Functions: Algorithms and Complexity, TuTh 9:30AM - 10:59AM, Internet/OnlineSpring 2021
CS 172. Computability and Complexity, TuTh 11:00AM - 12:29PM, Requested General AssignmentBiography
Alistair Sinclair received his B.A. in Mathematics from St. John's College, University of Cambridge in 1979, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh in 1988. Prior to joining the Computer Science Division at Berkeley, he held a faculty position at Edinburgh and visiting positions at the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Computer Science (DIMACS) and the International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley. Sinclair was the recipient of the Goedel Prize in 1996, and the Fulkerson Prize in 2006.Selected Publications
F. Martinelli, A. Sinclair, and D. Weitz, "Glauber dynamics on trees: Boundary conditions and mixing time," Communications in Mathematical Physics, vol. 250, no. 2, pp. 301-334, Sep. 2004.Y. Rabani, Y. Rabinovich, and A. Sinclair, "A computational view of population genetics," Random Structures & Algorithms, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 313-334, July 1998.
M. Jerrum and A. Sinclair, "Polynomial-time approximation algorithms for the Ising model," SIAM J. Computing, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 1087-1116, Oct. 1993.
Y. Rabinovich, A. Sinclair, and A. Wigderson, "Quadratic dynamical systems," in Proc. 33rd Annual Symp. on Foundations of Computer Science, Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1992, pp. 304-313.
Awards, Memberships and Fellowships
ACM SIGACT Distinguished Service Prize, 2017Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow, 2012
Diane S. McEntyre Award for Excellence in Teaching Computer Science, 2012
Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) Medallion Lecturer, 2008
Jim and Donna Gray Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Computer Science, 2007
Delbert Ray Fulkerson Prize, 2006
Okawa Research Grant, 2002
G?del Prize, 1996