His publications span a wide range of areas within numerical analysis and applied mathematics, including non-normal eigenvalue problems and applications, spectral methods for differential equations, numerical linear algebra, fluid mechanics, computational complex analysis, and approximation theory.[14] He is perhaps best known for his work on pseudospectra of non-normal matrices and operators. This work covers theoretical aspects as well as numerical algorithms, and applications including fluid mechanics, numerical solution of partial differential equations, numerical linear algebra, shuffling of cards, random matrices, differential equations and lasers. Trefethen is currently an ISI highly cited researcher.[15]
Trefethen has written a number of books on numerical analysis including Numerical Linear Algebra[16] with David Bau, Spectral Methods in MATLAB, Schwarz–Christoffel Mapping with Tobin Driscoll, and Spectra and Pseudospectra: The Behavior of Nonnormal Matrices and Operators[17] with Mark Embree.[5] He is the leader of the MATLAB-based Chebfun software project.
In 2013 he proposed a new formula to calculate the BMI of a person:[18][19]
Nick Trefethen is distinguished for his many seminal contributions to Numerical Analysis and its applications in Applied Mathematics and in Engineering Science. His research spans theory, algorithms, software and physical applications, particularly involving eigenvalues, pseudospectra – a concept which he introduced – and dynamics. He has an international reputation for his work on nonnormal matrices and operators. He has also made major contributions to finite difference and spectral methods for partial differential equations, numerical linear algebra, and complex analysis. His monograph Numerical Linear Algebra (SIAM, 1997) is one of the SIAM's best selling books and has already been through five printings.[1]
In 2010 Trefethen was awarded the Gold Medal of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications in recognition of his "outstanding contributions to mathematics and its applications over a period of years".[22]
In 2013 Trefethen was awarded the Naylor Prize and lectureship in Applied Mathematics from the London Mathematical Society.[23] He was awarded the George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition in 2017 and the John von Neumann
Prize in 2020 by SIAM.
Personal life
Trefethen has one son and one daughter from his first marriage to Anne Elizabeth Trefethen (née Daman).[3] He is currently married to Kate McLoughlin, a professor of English Literature at Oxford.
^Nachtigal, N. L. M.; Reddy, S. C.; Trefethen, L. N. (1992). "How Fast are Nonsymmetric Matrix Iterations?". SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications. 13 (3): 778. CiteSeerX10.1.1.210.62. doi:10.1137/0613049.