Bonnie Jacob - Featured Faculty 2014

Graph theory, the investigation of structures that model pairwise relationships among objects, is the subject of Dr. Jacob’s research. In particular, Dr. Jacob and her team investigate topics at the interface of graph theory and mathematical fields such as linear algebra. Currently, the team’s research, supported by the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM), focuses on a particular area known as zero forcing, a collection of dynamical systems on graphs or networks that relate to linear algebra and quantum mechanics as well. Conventional research on zero forcing has focused on finding the minimum number of starting locations in a system to spread a phenomenon to the entire system. Dr. Jacob’s research team introduced and investigated the novel idea of determining the maximum number of locations at which the phenomenon can be present, yet not spread to the entire network.

In addition, Dr. Jacob researches the area of combinatorial matrix theory together with collaborators at universities across the country. The group researched the zero diagonal minimum rank problem, resulting in a publication this year, and continues to pursue related research.

Involving deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduate students in mathematics research is a passion of Dr. Jacob’s. She has supervised six deaf or hard-of-hearing undergraduate students in research since coming to RIT. This year, Dr. Jacob’s students presented their original research on failed zero forcing at two conferences. The team has one article accepted for publication and is currently working on submitting more. Dr. Jacob actively encourages faculty across the United States to involve deaf and hard-of-hearing students in research, including publishing an article with RIT faculty co-authors on how to successfully involve deaf and hard-of-hearing students in research.