SAMUEL G. G. JOHNSTON
Mathematician
Mathematician
CV SUMMARY
Employment
2022 - present: Lecturer in Probability Theory, King's College London
2020 - 2022: Postdoc, University of Bath
2019 - 2020: Postdoc, University of Graz
2017 - 2019: Postdoc, University College Dublin
Education
2014 - 2017: PhD in Probability, University of Bath
2010 - 2014: MMath, University of Oxford
RESEARCH INTERESTS
I have broad research interests in probability and related areas, including stochastic processes, branching/coalescing processes and their connections with mathematical biology, free probability, random matrices, statistical physics, integrable combinatorics, asymptotic geometric analysis, and in combinatorial approaches to the Jacobian conjecture.
PHD STUDENTS
Rohan Shiatis (2023-)
Neil Mukerji (2024-)
PUBLICATIONS
PREPRINTS
S.G.G. Johnston and J. Prochno (2024). The macroscopic shape of Gelfand-Tsetlin patterns and free probability.
SUBMITTED
S.G.G. Johnston, A. Kyprianou, T. Rogers and E. Schertzer (2025). The Brownian marble.
(submitted) arXiv
S.G.G. Johnston (2025). On creating convexity in high dimensions.
(submitted) arXiv
S.G.G. Johnston and R. Shiatis (2025). The integrable snake model.
(submitted) arXiv
S.G.G. Johnston and C. McSwiggen (2024). On the limiting Horn inequalities.
(submitted) arXiv
P. Dyszewski, S.G.G. Johnston, S. Palau and J. Prochno (2024). The largest fragment in self-similar fragmentation processes of positive index.
(submitted) arXiv
O. Arizmendi and S.G.G. Johnston (2023). Free probability via entropic optimal transport.
(submitted) arXiv
E. Bisi, P. Dyszewski, N. Gantert, S.G.G. Johnston, J. Prochno and D. Schmid (2023). Random planar trees and the Jacobian conjecture.
(submitted) arXiv
ACCEPTED PUBLICATIONS
S.G.G. Johnston (2025). Continuous Kasteleyn theory for the bead model.
To appear in J. Eur. Math. Soc., arXiv
S.C. Harris, S.G.G. Johnston and J.C. Pardo (2023). Universality classes for the coalescent structure of heavy-tailed Galton-Watson trees.
Published in Ann. Probab., arXiv
D. Cheek and S.G.G. Johnston (2023). Ancestral reproductive bias in branching processes.
Published in J. Math. Biol., arXiv
S.G.G. Johnston and A. Lambert (2023). The coalescent structure of uniform and Poisson samples from branching processes.
Published in Ann. Appl. Probab., arXiv
S.G.G. Johnston, A. E. Kyprianou and T. Rogers (2022). Multitype Lambda-coalescents.
Published in Ann. Appl. Probab., arXiv
S.G.G. Johnston (2022). A degree bound for strongly nilpotent polynomial automorphisms.
Published in J. Algebra, arXiv
P. Dyszewski, N. Gantert, S.G.G. Johnston, J. Prochno and D. Schmid (2022). Sharp concentration for the largest and smallest fragment in a k-regular self-similar fragmentation.
Published in Ann. Probab., arXiv
16. S.G.G. Johnston and J. Prochno (2022). Faà di Bruno's formula and inversion of power series.
Published in Adv. Math., arXiv
17. J. Heiny, S.G.G. Johnston and J. Prochno (2022). Thin shell theory for rotationally invariant random simplices.
Published in Electron J. Probab., arXiv
18. S.G.G. Johnston and J. Prochno (2022). A Maxwell principle for generalized Orlicz balls.
Published in AIHP, arXiv
19. S.G.G. Johnston, Z. Kabluchko and J. Prochno (2022). Projections of the uniform distribution on the unit cube - a large deviations perspective.
Published in Studia. Math., arXiv
20. S.G.G. Johnston and J. Prochno (2022). Berry-Esseen bounds for random projections of Lp-Balls.
Published in Studia. Math., arXiv
21. S.G.G. Johnston and N. O'Connell (2020). Scaling limits for non-intersecting polymers and Whittaker measures.
Published in J. Stat. Phys., arXiv
22. S.C. Harris, S.G.G. Johnston and M.I. Roberts (2020). The coalescent structure of continuous-time Galton-Watson trees.
Published in Ann. Appl. Probab., arXiv
23. S.G.G. Johnston (2019). The genealogy of Galton-Watson trees.
Published in Electron. J. Probab., arXiv
OTHER WORK/NOTES:
24. S.G.G. Johnston (2022). Beads on the torus via scaling limits of dimer matchings.
25. S.G.G. Johnston (2023). A fast Berry-Esseen theorem under minimal density assumptions.
COLLABORATORS:
I've had the good fortune of collaborating with Octavio Arizmendi, Elia Bisi, Dave Cheek, Piotr Dyszewski, Nina Gantert, Simon Harris, Johannes Heiny, Zakhar Kabluchko, Andreas Kyprianou, Amaury Lambert, Colin McSwiggen, Neil O'Connell, Juan Carlos Pardo, Sandra Palau, Joscha Prochno, Matt Roberts, Tim Rogers, Emmanuel Schertzer, Dominik Schmid and Rohan Shiatis.
INVITED TALKS
2026
(May 2026): Bedlewo, Poland. Discrete random structures II.
2025
(Dec 2025): La Trobe University, Australia. AustMS 2025 annual meeting.
(Oct 2025): Bristol University, United Kingdom. Probability seminar.
(Oct 2025): Queen Mary University London, United Kingdom. Probability and applications seminar.
Aug 2025: Xiangtan University, China. The Third International Conference for Young Chinese Probabilists.
Jun 2025: Imperial College London, United Kingdom. Random Systems CDT.
Feb 2025: UCLA, USA. Conference in Free Entropy Theory and Random Matrices.
Feb 2025: University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Probability seminar.
Feb 2025: Imperial College London, United Kingdom. Stochastic Analysis seminar.
2024
Dec 2024: King's College London, United Kingdom. CFE-CMStatistics 2024.
Oct 2024: UNAM, Mexico. Probability seminar.
Oct 2024: CIMAT, Mexico. Probability seminar.
Oct 2024: CIMAT, Mexico. Colloquium.
Aug 2024: Estes Park, Colorado, USA. Random Theory 2024 workshop.
Jun 2024: Durham University, United Kingdom. Probability in the North East workshop.
May 2024: University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Applied Probability seminar.
Apr 2024: University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Conference in Models and Inference in Population Genetics.
Apr 2024: Edinburgh University, United Kingdom. Probability seminar.
Feb 2024: Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom. Probability and Applications seminar.
2023
Nov 2023: Warsaw University of Technology, Poland. Probability seminar. (Online.)
Oct 2023: UCLA, USA. Functional Analysis seminar. (Online.)
Oct 2023: Bedlewo, Poland. Discrete Random Structures conference.
Sept 2023: University of Bielefeld, Germany. Ancestral Lines in genetic models workshop.
Sept 2023: University of Graz, Austria. Probabilistic Methods in Convexity.
July 2023: University of Lisbon, Portugal. Stochastic Processes and Applications
May 2023: University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Probability Seminar.
Mar 2023: ICMS Sofia, Bulgaria. Recent Developments in Stochastic Processes.
Mar 2023: Algebraic and combinatorial perspectives in the mathematical sciences. (Online.)
Feb 2023: University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Statistical Mechanics seminar.
Feb 2023: University of Sussex, United Kingdom. Mathematics and Applications seminar.
Jan 2023: CIMAT, Mexico. BUC Probability Meeting.
2022
Oct 2022: UCL, United Kingdom. Probability seminar.
Sep 2022: Wrocław University, Poland. Probability and Analysis.
Aug 2022: CIMAT, Mexico. Probability seminar.
Jun 2022: UCL, United Kingdom. Conference in point configurations and rigidity.
May 2022: UNAM, Mexico. Seminario de Probabilidad para Estudiantes de Posgrado. (Online.)
Mar 2022: University of Bath, United Kingdom. Algebra and number theory seminar.
2021
May 2021: University of Bath, United Kingdom. Probability Seminar. (Online.)
2020
Aug 2020: IMS-Bernoulli one world symposium. (Online.)
Jun 2020: Online open probability school. (Online.)
2019
Dec 2019: Bochum University, Germany. Probability Seminar.
Oct 2019: University of Graz, Austria. Algorithms and complexity in high dimensions.
2018
June 2018: Collège de France, France. Probability seminar.
Apr 2018: University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. The UK Easter probability meeting
Feb 2018: University College Dublin, Ireland. Reading group.
Jan 2018: University College Dublin, Ireland. Probability seminar.
2017
May 2017: Beijing Normal University, China. Workshop on branching and related topics
Mar 2017: University of Bath, United Kingdom. Prob-L@B seminar
CONTACT
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences, Strand Building, King's College London,
London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.
sgg(surname)atgmail.com