Sofiane Bouarroudj
Professor of Mathematics
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: BS Université de Constantine; MS Université de Paris VII (Denis Diderot); PhD Université de Provence (Aix-Marseille I)
Research Areas: Representation Theory, Mathematical Physics
Sofiane Bouarroudj is a Professor of Mathematics at New York University Abu Dhabi, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2012. His research lies at the intersection of algebra, geometry, and mathematical physics, with a particular focus on Lie theory, modular Lie superalgebras, and nonassociative algebraic structures.
He received a master's degree from Université Paris VII (Denis Diderot) and a PhD in Mathematics from Université de Provence (Aix–Marseille I) in 1999. After earning his doctorate, he pursued research appointments at several distinguished institutions, including the Centre de Physique Théorique in Marseille (France), Keio University (Japan), and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium).
Bouarroudj's research has developed along three main directions. His early work focused on equivariant quantization and Schwarzian derivatives, where he contributed to the study of geometric invariants, differential operators, and the representation theory of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras. These works helped establish new connections between projective and conformal geometry and the theory of natural differential operators.
A second major direction concerns modular Lie algebras and Lie superalgebras, especially over fields of characteristic two. His contributions include the discovery, classification, and structural study of several families of simple and exceptional modular Lie superalgebras, advancing the understanding of algebraic structures that arise uniquely in positive characteristic.
More recently, his research has expanded to nonassociative algebras, including left-symmetric, Novikov, nearly associative, and related algebraic structures. Motivated in part by problems from differential geometry and mathematical physics, his work investigates quadratic and symplectic structures, extension theories, and the interplay between algebraic identities and geometric phenomena.
Since joining NYUAD in 2012, Bouarroudj has maintained an active international research program and has collaborated widely with mathematicians across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. His work is characterized by a combination of algebraic, geometric, and cohomological methods.