| Tevian Dray | |
| Birth Date: | 17 March 1956 |
| Birth Place: | Washington, DC, United States |
| Nationality: |  United States |
| Workplaces: | Oregon State University |
| Alma Mater: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology BS 1976; University of California, Berkeley Ph.D 1981 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Rainer K. Sachs |
| Awards: | Haimo Distinguished Teaching Award, Mathematical Association of America, 2017 |
| Spouse: | Corinne A. Manogue |
Tevian Dray (born March 17, 1956) is an American mathematicianwho has worked in general relativity, mathematical physics, geometry, and both science and mathematics education. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2010.
He has primarily worked in the area of classical general relativity. Hisresearch results include confirmation of the existence of solutions ofEinstein's equation containing gravitational radiation, the use ofcomputer algebra to classify exact solutions of Einstein's equation, ananalysis of a class of gravitational shock waves (including one of the fewknown exact 2-body solutions in general relativity), andthe study of signature change, a possible model for theBig Bang. More recently, his work has focused on applications of theoctonions to the theory of fundamental particles.
He was a graduate student under Rainer K. Sachs atBerkeley, where he received his Ph.D.in 1981, although much of his dissertation research was done in collaboration withAbhay Ashtekar. The context of his dissertation, titled The Asymptotic Structure of a Family of Einstein-Maxwell Solutions focused on families of spacetimes which describe accelerating black holes, and which contain gravitational radiation. This demonstrated the existence of exact radiating solutions to the Einstein field equations.[1]
He is currently a professor of mathematics at Oregon State University. In addition to his ongoing work in mathematical physics,he has made significant contributions in science education, where he directsthe Vector Calculus Bridge Project,[2] an attempt to teach vectorcalculus the way it is used by scientists and engineers, and is part of thedevelopment team of the Paradigms Project,[3] a completerestructuring of the undergraduate physics major around several core"paradigms". He has written a book [4] on special relativity and a sequel on general relativity using differential forms.,[5] and is coauthor of The Geometry of the Octonions released in 2015.[6]