A World of Chaos

Professor Mostafa Sabri’s mathematical mission from DNA dreams to quantum chaos

In the heart of Normandy, a young Mostafa Sabri sits through another math class, his gaze fixed on the clock as it ticks toward 3 p.m., signaling freedom at the end of the school day. A budding scientist, his mind drifts away from the task of long division to the fascinating complexities of human genetics. But everything changes when a mandatory calculus course unexpectedly changes the course of his journey.

Immersed in mathematical equations, Sabri found himself drawn to the precision and elegance of proofs during his freshman year at Cairo University. Encouraged by his professors, he delved deeper into the realms of mathematics and physics, gradually realizing that his true passion lay in this newfound domain.

“As a kid, I was enthralled by science and DNA and was determined to specialize in this area,” Sabri says. “But then a mandatory calculus class changed my entire future. I ended up majoring in maths and physics, and then, by the time I graduated, it was clear that I was much more interested in mathematics than anything else. Solving problems became a kind of obsession.”

This obsession sparked in Egypt led to a PhD in France at Université Paris 7 Denis Diderot (now Université Paris-Cité). From there, Sabri embarked on a postdoctoral position at the Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée in Strasbourg. This was followed by a second postdoctoral position at the Laboratoire de Mathématiques d'Orsay in France. In 2021, he returned to Cairo University as an associate professor of mathematics, but soon, the opportunities in Abu Dhabi began to draw his attention.

“I was born in Normandy, but my family is Egyptian, so I’ve always felt a deep connection with the Middle East,” says Sabri. “I spent a lot of time in Egypt, but as peers and colleagues moved to Abu Dhabi, I learned about the region’s ambition and diversity and wanted to be part of that. When the opportunity to work with NYU Abu Dhabi arose, I knew the possibilities for research would be endless.”

Sabri joined the university in September 2022 as a research associate of mathematics before becoming a faculty member 12 months later. His research lies at the interface of mathematical physics, spectral theory, and probability theory. His most recent work focuses on the enigmatic field of chaos, which studies how disturbing the initial condition of classical dynamical systems leads to very different outcomes.

“The simplest way to think of it is in terms of the butterfly effect and the idea that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world could potentially result in a tornado forming in another,” he says. “What I’ve been working on personally is a bit too abstract to put in movies, but that’s the simplest way to explain it. More precisely, I investigate how chaos manifests itself when we study systems from the point of view of quantum mechanics. This is what we call quantum chaos; it leads to an entirely different mathematical analysis with many exciting open problems, and I connected this theory to condensed matter physics, which turned out to be very fruitful."

The theory highlights the interconnectedness and sensitivity of complex systems to even the smallest perturbations, demonstrating how seemingly insignificant actions or events can have huge and far-reaching consequences over time—much like Sabri’s fateful math class.

In addition to being provided with the resources for furthering his research, Sabri was lured to Abu Dhabi by the generous funding provided by the university.

“The university supports travel worldwide to attend conferences, visit and invite experts, and hire postdocs,” says Sabri. “All this is very important to avoid scientific isolation and to conduct cutting-edge research.”

Academia aside, returning to the Middle East feels like a homecoming to the professor, who plans to put down new roots in the emirate.

“There’s nowhere quite like Abu Dhabi for meeting interesting people,” says Sabri. “I’ve been lucky enough to make many friends from all over the world, and the students themselves are very international, which makes for a fascinating teaching experience.  

“The sense of freedom here is incredible, and the country is leading the way in the region,” he says. “In Abu Dhabi, it feels like anything is possible.”