People
Faculty Members
Larry A. Finkelstein |
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Professor Finkelstein joined the College of Computer Science in 1983 and became dean in 1994. He also is Northeastern's representative to the University Consortium on Advanced Internet Development, focusing on applications. Before coming to Northeastern, he had been a professor of mathematics at Wayne State University, and served on the staff of the Center for Communication Research and MITRE Corporation.
Dean Finkelstein's research centers on computational issues for finite groups, including developing fundamental algorithms and applying these algorithms to solve large-scale search problems.
Currently, he is developing tools to determine the structure of matrix groups over finite fields and the use of symmetry to speed solutions to combinatorial-search problems. This matrix-group recognition project is part of a large, international collaboration involving researchers from England, Germany, and Australia. As many finite groups can be efficiently represented as matrix groups over finite fields, Dean Finkelstein and his colleagues have sought to simplify the problem by finding an alternative representation that can lead to more efficient algorithms. His initial work with Professor Gene D. Cooperman and Dr. Steven Linton, examining this problem in the context of black-box groups, has resulted in the first demonstration that it is possible to efficiently find the natural geometric representation for a family of black-box simple groups. They now are studying application of the approach to a wide variety of issues in computational group theory.
Career Publication Highlights
Finkelstein, Larry A., Lasalo Babai, Gene D. Cooperman, Eugene Luks, and Akos Seress. 1995. Fast Monte Carlo algorithms for permutation groups. Journal of Computer Systems Science 50: 296-308.
Finkelstein, Larry A., Cynthia A. Brown, and Paul W. Purdom. 1996. Backtrack search in the presence of symmetry. Nordic Journal of Computing 3:203-219.
Finkelstein, Larry A., Gene D. Cooperman, and Steven Linton. 1996. Constructive recognition of a black-box group isomorphic to GL (n, 2). In Groups and computation II. DIMAC Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, ed. Larry A. Finkelstein and William M. Kantor, vol. 28. Providence: AMS