David Jekel works on self-adjoint operator algebras, free probability, and random matrix theory. He focuses on connections between free probability, optimal transport theory, and continuous model theory. He also studies applications of free probability and random matrices to C*-algebras, mathematical physics, and more. Jekel obtained his Ph.D. in 2020 from UCLA with Dimitri Shlyakhtenko. He held an NSF postdoc at UC San Diego, a postdoc at the Fields Institute, and a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Copenhagen. He joined the University of Ottawa in September 2026.
- David Jekel. Information geometry for types in the large-n limit of random matrices. Commun. Math. Phys. 406: art. 272 (2025). doi:10.1007/s00220-025-05451-x
- David Jekel. The unitary group of a II1-factor is SOT-contractible. Mathematische Annalen. 393:3109-3117 (2025). doi:10.1007/s00208-025-03297-1
- Ilijas Farah, David Jekel, and Jennifer Pi. Quantum expanders and quantifier reduction for tracial von Neumann algebras. Journal of Symbolic Logic. 91.2:776-812 (2026). doi:10.1017/jsl.2025.10100
- David Jekel and Srivatsav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli. Upgraded free independence phenomena for random unitaries. Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. Ser. B 13:1-29 (2026). doi:10.1090/btran/244
- David Jekel, Lahcen Oussi, and Janusz Wysoczański. General limit theorems for mixtures of free, monotone, and Boolean independence. Electron. J. Prob. 30: art. 145, 50pp. (2025). doi:10.1214/25-EJP1407