David Sherman

Associate Professor
Department of Mathematics
University of Virginia
P. O. Box 400137
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4137

Contact Information

Email: dsherman@virginia.edu
Office: 211 Kerchof Hall
Phone: (434) 924-7079
Department FAX: (434) 982-3084
Office Hours, Fall 2024: M 1:30-2:30+, W 2-3:30+, and by appointment
Recent Seminars and Courses

Summer 2025: MATH 1210, A Survey of Calculus I
Spring 2025: MATH 3315, Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra II
Spring 2025: MATH 8310, Operator Theory I
Fall 2024: MATH 2315, Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra I
Ongoing: Seminar in Operator Theory and Operator Algebras
Primary Research Areas

Mostly functional analysis and operator algebras. Specialized interests include noncommutative Lp spaces, operator theory for elements of von Neumann algebras other than B(H), the model theory (logic) of operator algebras, and noncommutative convexity.


Recommended Reading

-- Relative tensor products for modules over von Neumann algebras, in Function Spaces (Edwardsville, IL, 2002), Contemporary Mathematics 328 (2003), 275-291.
-- Noncommutative Lp structure encodes exactly Jordan structure, Journal of Functional Analysis 221 (2005), 150-166.
-- (with Marius Junge) Noncommutative Lp modules, Journal of Operator Theory 53 (2005), 3-34.
-- (with Marius Junge and Zhong-Jin Ruan) A classification for 2-isometries of noncommutative Lp-spaces, Israel Journal of Mathematics 150 (2005), 285-314.
-- On the structure of isometries between noncommutative Lp spaces, Publications of the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences (Kyoto) 42 (2006), 45-82.
-- A new proof of the noncommutative Banach-Stone theorem, in Quantum Probability (Bedlewo, Poland, 2004), Banach Center Publications 73 (2006), 363-375.
-- Unitary orbits of normal operators in von Neumann algebras, Journal fur die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik 605 (2007), 95-132.
-- On the dimension theory of von Neumann algebras, Mathematica Scandinavica 101 (2007), 123-147.
-- Notes on automorphisms of ultrapowers of II1 factors, Studia Mathematica 195 (2009), 201-217.
-- Variations on Kuratowski's 14-set theorem, American Mathematical Monthly 117 (2010), 113-123.
-- Locally inner automorphisms of operator algebras, The Quarterly Journal of Mathematics (Oxford) 61 (2010), 241-254.
-- Divisible operators in von Neumann algebras, Illinois Journal of Mathematics 54 (2010), 567-600.
-- On cardinal invariants and generators for von Neumann algebras, Canadian Journal of Mathematics 64 (2012), 455-480.
-- (with Chuck Akemann) Conditional expectations onto maximal abelian *-subalgebras, Journal of Operator Theory 68 (2012), 597-607.
-- (with Ilijas Farah and Bradd Hart) Model theory of operator algebras I: stability, Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 45 (2013), 825-838.
-- (with Ilijas Farah and Bradd Hart) Model theory of operator algebras II: model theory, Israel Journal of Mathematics 201 (2014), 477-505.
-- (with Ilijas Farah and Bradd Hart) Model theory of operator algebras III: elementary equivalence and II1 factors, Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 46 (2014), 609-628.
-- (with Ilijas Farah, Isaac Goldbring, and Bradd Hart) Existentially closed II1 factors, Fundamenta Mathematicae 233 (2016), 173-196.
-- (with Stephan Garcia and Gary Weiss) On the similarity of AB and BA for normal and other matrices, Linear Algebra and its Applications 508 (2016), 14-21.
-- (with Stephan Garcia) Matrices similar to partial isometries, Linear Algebra and its Applications 526 (2017), 35-41.
-- (with Kristin Courtney) Some notes on the universal C*-algebra of a contraction, Journal of Operator Theory 84 (2020), 153-184.
-- (with Bruno Braga and Joe Eisner) Support expansion C*-algebras, Journal of Operator Theory 92 (2024), 463-504.
-- (with Bruno Braga and Joe Eisner) A quantization of coarse spaces and uniform Roe algebras, 36 pages, to appear in Pacific Journal of Mathematics.

Writeup of a June 2008 talk aimed at undergraduates doing math research (the Willamette Valley REU-RET Consortium): "Ubiquity of operators in mathematics"


Should people worry about set theoretic foundations in their daily life? At my grocery parking lot, some do.
The Ph.D. process via French cartoons.
Co se děje ted', kde jsem učil angličtinu.
My Powerpoint prehistoric introduction to the joint density of random variables. Yabba dabba doo!
Here's an old audio file about a Sherman (my sister) improving the world.
See how some in our house celebrated Thanksgiving.
Hear the mathematician Tom Ferguson (UCLA) rap Stirling's formula.
How brave are you? (by my then-8-year-old daughter)
Anotter photo - bye for now