PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jayant Shah

Jayant Shah is a mathematician whose research spans computer vision and the geometry of curves. He earned a Ph.D. at MIT in 1974 under Michael Artin and published on K3 surfaces in 1980. With David Mumford, he published a computer-vision paper on piecewise-smooth variational problems in 1989; in 1992, he published a conference paper on nonlinear-diffusion segmentation. His papers in 2005 and 2007–2008 examine metrics for planar curves, geodesics and curvature; he published an H2 metric paper in 2013. As of October 2026, he is emeritus in Northeastern University's Mathematics Department.

Works
55
Citations
6,020
h-index
14
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1974

    An MIT doctorate

    He earns a Ph.D. at MIT in 1974 under adviser Michael Artin.

  2. 1980

    A K3 moduli space

    In 1980, he publishes “A complete moduli space for K3 surfaces of degree 2” in Annals of Mathematics.

  3. 1989

    Piecewise-smooth variational work

    In 1989, he and David Mumford publish a computer-vision paper titled “Optimal approximations by piecewise smooth functions and associated variational problems” in Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics.

  4. 1992

    Nonlinear-diffusion segmentation

    In 1992, he publishes “Segmentation by nonlinear diffusion. II” in the proceedings of the IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition.

  5. 2005

    Metrics on planar curves

    In 2005, he studies two conformally equivalent metrics on planar curves. For the simpler metric, he derives an equation for geodesics and a formula for sectional curvature.

  6. 2007–2008

    Geodesics for shape spaces

    In 2007, he coauthors a metric on shape space with Peter Michor, David Mumford, and Laurent Younes. The paper describes explicit geodesics and computes sectional curvature; it appears in Rend. Lincei Mat. Appl. in 2008.

  7. 2013

    An H2 metric for curves

    In 2013, he publishes “An H2 Riemannian metric on the space of planar curves modulo similitudes” in Adv. Appl. Math.

  8. As of October 2026

    Mathematics emeritus at Northeastern

    As of October 2026, he is emeritus in Northeastern University's Mathematics Department.

Career

  1. Since 1978Northeastern UniversityEmeritus

Education

  1. 1974Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPhD

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Optimal approximations by piecewise smooth functions and associated variational problems1989 · Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics · 5,211 citations
  2. A metric on shape space with explicit geodesics2008 · Rendiconti Lincei Matematica e Applicazioni · 209 citations
  3. Extraction of Shape Skeletons from Grayscale Images1997 · Computer Vision and Image Understanding · 104 citations
  4. A Complete Moduli Space for K3 Surfaces of Degree 21980 · Annals of Mathematics · 100 citations
  5. Free-discontinuity problems via functionals involving the L1-norm of the gradient and their approximations1999 · Interfaces and Free Boundaries Mathematical Analysis Computation and Applications · 53 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Northeastern University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Northeastern University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Northeastern University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Jayant Shah - The Mathematics Genealogy Project genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. A complete moduli space for K3 surfaces of degree 2 | Annals of Mathematics annals.math.princeton.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Optimal approximations by piecewise smooth functions and associated variational problems - MaRDI portal portal.mardi4nfdi.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Jayant Shah | csauthors.net csauthors.net. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. H^o type Riemannian metrics on the space of planar curves arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. A Metric on Shape Space with Explicit Geodesics arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Jayant Shah - Northeastern University College of Science cos.northeastern.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.