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...Defenceless under the night

Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,

Ironic points of light

Flash out wherever the Just

Exchange their messages:

May I, composed like them

Of Eros and of dust,

Beleaguered by the same

Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

         (W.H. Auden, September 1, 1939).

I am a Siberian-born mathematician and a dual citizen of New Zealand and Canada, two countries where a major part of my academic trajectory has passed. After taking early retirement from the University of Ottawa, ON (where I am now Emeritus Professor), I became a mathematical freelancer in Brazil.  I have spent a few years on the off-shore island of Santa Catarina, a year in Salvador, Bahia, over a year in João Pessoa, Paraíba, and a year and a half on road trips across Brazil in a small but resilient Fiesta. Since October 2024, I am a 'Senior Visiting Professor' at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, hired for 2 years, in principle renewable for 2 more, but let us see how it goes.

My most interesting results to date are in the dynamical theory of infinite dimensional groups, and many of them appear in this AMS book of mine; in particular, I have contributed the letter P to what is now known as the K-P-T correspondence. Among my other interests are mathematical topics related to datasets. Here are my publications on  Google Scholar, Zentralblatt für Math, and DBLP computer science database. 

At 60+ the brain still gets flashes of insight, and two among a dozen or so memorable works already date from the Brazilian years: skew-amenability of finite energy loop groups and a universally consistent learning rule with a universally monotone error. 

Since getting a Ph.D. from Moscow University 42 years ago, I was mostly making my living by teaching - on four different continents, in four different countries, in four different languages.... did I pay my dues, or not quite yet?