Odds ‘n N’s Newsletter

Department of Mathematics

North Dakota State University

Issue 19 - March 2016

2

Letter from the Chair

This has been an exciting and busy year for

the department. In addition to the a great

group of new graduate students (see page 5),

a new faculty member, a promotion, and two

new post-docs (see page 4) we had another

successful year with three faculty receiving

grants (see page 7) and seven graduate stu-

dents finishing (see page 7). We also saw

our largest class of scholarship recipients

(see page 9) and nineteen undergraduates

successfully completing their senior seminar

papers and presentations (see page 9).

Even more exciting has been the first full

semester of the Math Emporium (see page

8). This new learning space has been in the

works for several years. It is an active learn-

ing lab in conjunction with lecture for pre-

calculus courses. In addition to a regular lec-

ture, the students spend time in the computer

lab working on homework, quizzes and ex-

ams. The lab time is a great resource be-

cause the students are actively working on

problems and have the opportunity to get in-

stant feedback and help from our staff work-

ing in the lab. Already we’re seeing big im-

provement in student success.

Another exciting development has been a

complete re-write of the mathematics and

mathematics education curriculums (see page

6). The changes are two-fold: adding courses

to help students bridge the gap between cal-

culus and higher-level mathematics and add-

ing requirements of more courses at the up-

per level. We hope that this new curriculum

will lead to students gaining more experience

with more areas of mathematics, preparing

them for their work after graduation

(wherever they go).

Another exciting opportunity we had last

spring was being able to go and visit elemen-

tary and middle schools

across the Fargo-

Moorhead area (see page

8). This was a fun oppor-

tunity to get out and

show youngsters that

mathematics is fun. A

lot of positive feedback

from students and teach-

ers has encouraged us to

continue this opportunity

going forward.

As always, it is busy, challenging, and re-

warding in the Department of Mathematics.

We are glad to share our excitement with you

so that we can continue to partner with you to

ensure the ongoing excellence that makes our

department a great part of the NDSU experi-

ence for everybody.

Something to Think About

Vladimir Igorevich Arnold (1937 – 2010 ) is

one the greatest mathematicians of the twenti-

eth century. He is also very well known with

his provocative statements about mathematics

and especially mathematical education. Here

is just one example of a quote attributed to

him: “Who can't calculate the average value

of the one hundredth power of the sine func-

tion within five minutes with 10% accuracy,

doesn't understand mathematics - even if he

studied supermanifolds, non-standard calculus

or embedding theorems.” Can you find the

following?

(For similar problems search the Internet for

“Arnold’s trivium”)

dxx2/

0

100sin2

3

Faculty Changes

Michael Cohen joined the fac-

ulty as a tenure-track Assistant

Professor. He received his PhD

from the University of North

Texas in 2013 under the direc-

tion of Professor Su Gao and

Professor Robert R. Kallman.

His research focus is in descrip-

tive set theory, topological

groups and topological dynam-

ics. In his spare time he is an amateur bassoonist

and a rock climber, and he serves as the faculty

sponsor for the NDSU Climbing Club.

Nursel Erey and Kevin Dilks joined the depart-

ment as postdoctoral scholars at NDSU. Nursel

received her PhD from Dalhousie University in

2015. Her research interests are in combinatorial

commutative algebra. Kevin received his PhD

from the University of Minnesota in 2015 under

the direction of Vic Reiner. His research interests

are in algebraic, enumerative, and geometric com-

binatorics.

Azer Akhmedov, who joined

the faculty in 2009 as an Assis-

tant Professor, was promoted to

Associate Professor.

Sean Sather-Wagstaff left the

department to become an Associ-

ate Professor in the Department

of Mathematics at Clemson Uni-

versity in South Carolina. Sean

was a member of the faculty at

NDSU since 2007. The depart-

ment wishes him good luck in his

endeavors.

Inside This Issue

Letter from the Chair

Faculty Changes

Geometry and Topology Interest Group

New Graduate Students

Changes to the Mathematics Curriculum

Grants in the Department and Graduate Student Theses

Math Emporium and Local School Visits

Current Scholarship Recipients

Donors in the Department

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

4

Mathematics Interest Groups —Geometry and Topology

The geometry & topology research group has a wide-

range of interests which include geometric group the-

ory, Hamiltonian mechanics, Polish groups and

symplectic topology.

Azer Akhmedov's research focuses on

geometric aspects of groups and the

dynamics of group actions. He mainly

studies subgroups of Lie groups and

the diffeomorphism groups of mani-

folds of small dimension.

His latest works are on the study of

discrete and dense subgroups of the diffeomorphism

groups. One of the applications of these studies is the

proof of an extension of Hoelder's Theorem, which

characterizes groups of diffeomorphisms of the inter-

val where every non-identity diffeomorphism has a

uniformly bounded number of fixed points.

Leo Butler primarily studies integrable

and non-integrable hamiltonian sys-

tems, especially those systems which

have origins in geometric construc-

tions. His interests also extend to infor-

mation geometry and statistical me-

chanics.

Michael Cohen studies Polish groups, especially

groups of homeomorphisms and diffeomorphisms

and their finitely-generated subgroups. His research

employs Baire category methods and techniques of

classical descriptive set theory.

Some of his recent work centers on

questions about finitely-generated

dense subgroups in the homeo-

morphism and diffeomorphism groups

of one-dimensional manifolds: do they

exist, and if so, are they generic among

the finitely generated groups? The

analogous well-known result is that the

generic additive 2-generated group in the reals is

dense in the reals, and similar results are known for

Lie groups. Cohen has also done research in topo-

logical algebra, studying the question of which

group topologies are compatible with certain home-

omorphism groups (of cardinality continuum) aris-

ing in real analysis.

Josef Dorfmeister studies symplectic 4

-manifolds and low-dimensional topol-

ogy. His research uses pseudoholomor-

phic curve techniques, symplectic ge-

nus, inflation and other tools from

symplectic topology.

He is particularly interested in symplectic submani-

folds (or configurations thereof), the role they play

in identifying the ambient manifold and surgeries

which can be performed using these submanifolds.

Two of his current projects are 1) understanding a

surgery called the rational blowdown and which

possible manifolds can be constructed using this

method and 2) a study of how negative a curve can

get and the relationship of symplectic curves in this

setting to the Bounded Negativity Conjecture in al-

gebraic geometry.

5

New Graduate Students

Gulnar Aghabalayeva received

her Bachelor’s degree in Computer

Engineering from Qafqaz Universi-

ty in Azerbaijan, graduating with

the highest score of University. She

remained at the same department as

Teaching Assistant for 2014-2015

academic year. Her interests in-

clude Quantum Physics and Psy-

chology.

Khaled Alzobydi earned a Bachelor’s of Science in

Mathematics from King Khaled University in Saudi

Arabia in 2009 and an M.S. in Mathematics from

Mankato State University in 2015.

John Forsman comes from a

small town in Minnesota. He grad-

uated from St. Cloud State Univer-

sity in 2015. His interests are eve-

rything from playing games to

playing piano. He is interested in

learning everything he possibly

can, and is interested in seeing

where this path will take him. He

one day plans to solve one of the

7 Millennium problems worth a million dollars.

Caleb Larson is from Reeder,

ND. He completed a B.S. in math-

ematics from the University of

North Dakota in 2015. His re-

search interests currently lie in

mathematics education, but he

keeps an open mind towards other

areas. Overall, his passion is in

teaching math. His hobbies in-

clude playing guitar, woodworking, weightlifting,

gaming, and reading.

Ali Mahzarnia was born in Tehran,

Iran, graduated in Pure Mathematics

from Damghan University,

and has a Master’s in Mathematical

Finance from Allameh Tabataba’i

University.

Chase Reuter is from Sauk Centre,

MN and acquired his Bachelor's De-

gree in Mathematics from NDSU. His

interests are diverse but include solving

challenging problems, computer pro-

gramming, and reading.

Michael Roberts grew up in Knox-

ville, TN. He earned his Master's

Degree at UTK and spent about 3

years afterward teaching at a com-

munity college in Knoxville. Most

of his mathematical career, he has

been working on PDEs, but has not

yet decided which branch to focus

on. In his spare time, he likes playing video games

and eating at new restaurants.

Sarah Schwarzentraub graduated

from Eureka College in Illinois in

2015 with a double major in Mathe-

matics as well as Philosophy and Re-

ligion.

Jaime Watson grew up in Minot,

ND. She graduated college from Minot State Univer-

sity with a degree in Math Education, minor in Spe-

cial Education. After college, she moved to North

Carolina where she taught high

school math for 5 years at Pine For-

est High School. While teaching

high school, she attended school at

night to earn a Master’s in Mathe-

matics and graduated in May 2015.

Her interests include running and

coaching.

6

Changes to the Mathematics Curriculum

The Department of Mathematics has undergone an

extensive review of the Mathematics Major and Mi-

nor, culminating in a revised curriculum beginning

in Fall 2016. The reworking of the curriculum has

been a work in progress for the past two years with

intensive discussion within the Curriculum Commit-

tee, which oversaw the changes, as well as among

the faculty. The overarching goal was to improve the

mathematical education that we provide our mathe-

matics majors in order for them to be better able to

compete as they move on to graduate school or into

industry.

The department identified six major themes that

needed to be addressed:

The need for more transitional courses between

the calculus sequence (Math 165-166-265-266)

and upper level mathematics courses (4xx course

numbers).

The need for a computational approach to linear

algebra with sufficient prerequisites to ensure

student success.

The need to expose students to a broader range

of higher level mathematics to emphasize the

broad range of mathematics used in industry,

research mathematics and society.

The desire to maintain the rigor and depth of the

current mathematics program, which ensures that

students are well prepared for a myriad of post-

graduate opportunities.

A desire to see mathematics students engaged in

other areas where mathematics is playing a sig-

nificant role.

A desire, from both students and advisers, to

simplify the requirements.

With these goals in mind, the curriculum committee

went about drafting a revision to the mathematics

undergraduate curriculum. This resulted in the fol-

lowing major changes.

The introduction of two new courses at the 300-

level to aid in the transition into higher level

courses. Along with Math 270, this suite of

courses will expose students to standard proof

techniques used in higher mathematics and pro-

vide a solid mathematical foundation for all

courses at the 400-level. These courses are Math

329: Advanced Linear Algebra, a linear algebra

course which will prepare students for courses in

modern algebra and applied mathematics, and

Math 346: Metric Space Topology, a beginning

topology course which will prepare students for

courses in advanced analysis, geometry and to-

pology. The new courses have been offered be-

ginning in Fall 2015.

Broadening the minimal requirements to include

Complex Analysis and Partial Differential Equa-

tions, two standard courses that are used in many

applications and advanced mathematics.

A revision of the course Math 450: Real Analy-

sis, and, subsequently, the removal of Math 451:

Real Analysis II to be replaced by two elective

courses on measure theory and functional analy-

sis. This was made possible by the introduction

of Math 346, which allowed for the removal of a

considerable portion of the material in Math 450,

allowing this course to focus on the advanced

calculus material.

An increase in the number of mathematics elec-

tive credits required, to allow students more ex-

posure to cutting edge topics in mathematics.

The introduction of four new topics courses at

the 400-level, one each in Algebra/Discrete

Math, Analysis, Applied Mathematics and Ge-

ometry/Topology, to allow faculty to present ad-

vanced material, some of it research oriented, at

the upper undergraduate level.

Requiring a significant investment by our math

majors in courses outside of mathematics.

The revisions to the curriculum, after being ap-

proved by the faculty of the Department of Mathe-

matics, then underwent review by the college and

the university.

Looking ahead, we expect that this revision of the

mathematics major will provide our students with a

strong mathematical education that will give them a

strong start into their postgraduate careers.

7

Grants in the Department

María de los Ángeles Alfonseca-

Cubero received the CBMS con-

ference grant from National Sci-

ence Foundation. NSF funds a

number of conferences every year

about topics that are currently very

active; most of the funding is for

travel and lodging of participants,

to encourage young researchers

who want to learn about the topic of the conference.

The CBMS conference “Reflectionless measures,

Wolff's potentials, and rectifiability” was held on

July 27-31, 2015 at NDSU. The total attendance

was 46 people: the main speaker, Fedor Nazarov,

from Kent State University, and 6 invited speakers,

plus 39 participants, of which 24 were graduate stu-

dents, 5 postdocs, and 10 tenure-track or tenured

professors.

Susan Cooper received a FORWARD grant

(NDSU Advance FORWARD

Course Release Grant Program) for

one-semester release from teaching

responsibilities to promote the ad-

vancement (tenure and promotion)

of tenure-track and tenured women

faculty in STEM disciplines. Susan

is using this time on a project study-

ing geometric objects called fat

point schemes which are contained in projective n-

space.

Jessica Striker received the Young

Investigator Grant through National

Security Agency Mathematical Sci-

ences Program (NSA-MSP). This

grant is available to promising inves-

tigators within ten years after receiv-

ing a PhD and supports self-directed,

unclassified research in the areas of

Graduate Student Theses

approximation in de Branges spaces.” He was su-

pervised by Friedrich Littmann, and is currently on

a faculty appointment at Dakota State University in

Madison, South Dakota.

Jonathan Totushek defended his Ph.D thesis

“Homological Dimensions with respect to a Sem-

idualizing Complex.” He was supervised by Sean

Sather-Wagstaff and is currently a Visiting Assis-

tant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Diana Kennedy defended her M.S. thesis “A New

Generalization of Cohen-Kaplansky Domains.” She

was supervised by Ben Duncan and Jim Coyken-

dall.

Rebecca Ramos defended her M.S. thesis

“Colorings of Zero-Divisor Graphs of Commutative

Rings.” She was supervised by Ben Duncan and

Jim Coykendall. She is currently a PhD student at

Clemson University.

Hannah Altmann defended her Ph.D thesis

“Semidualizing DG Modules over Tensor Products.”

She was supervised by Sean Sather-Wagstaff and is

currently a Visiting Assistant Professor, University of

Minnesota, Morris.

Thomas Dunn defended his Ph.D thesis “Integral

Closure and the Generalized Multiplicity Sequences.”

He was supervised by Cătălin Ciupercă, and is cur-

rently an Assistant Professor at Bemidji State Univer-

sity.

Semere Habtemicael defended his Ph.D thesis

“Modeling financial swaps and geophysical data using

the Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard model.” He was

supervised by Indranil SenGupta. He is currently a

Research Fellow at the Harvard Medical School and

Massachusetts General Hospital.

Mark Spanier defended his Ph.D thesis “L1-

8

The Math Emporium

The Mathematics Department launched the Math

Emporium in the Fall 2015 semester. This learning

center, located in the basement of the Library, is

equipped with 81 computer stations and uses the

web-based math series MyMathLab. With this pro-

gram, students learn the material at their own pace

and receive immediate feedback in an environment

that allows a higher level of individualized instruc-

tion than in traditional course formats.

Students taking College Algebra and Trigonometry

at NDSU can navigate through course chapters that

include videos, animations and tutorial exercises

correlating with their textbook. They may do so in

the emporium center or remotely. Students can also

work very closely with the instructional team which

consists of 22 members including lecturers as well

as graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants.

In fact, there are at least two staff members in the

Emporium Center at all times to help students and

individually answer their questions.

Live lectures are another feature of this new struc-

ture. At least four optional live lectures per week

are offered to all emporium students, specifically to

those who still prefer the traditional lecture format.

The goal of the emporium is to enhance the mathe-

matical preparation of our students and to do so in a

manner that increases student engagement, satisfac-

tion and success; after one semester of implementa-

tion, the success rate has improved and is expected

to continue to get better with time.

In April 2015, the NDSU Department of Mathe-

matics organized a series of mathematical activities

for our community, tying into the National

Math Festival, which was celebrated in Washington

D.C on April 16-18 and organized by the Math Sci-

ences Research Institute, the Institute for Advanced

Studies and the Smithsonian Institution.

During the weeks of April 6-10 and April 13-17,

mathematics faculty and graduate students visited

51 classrooms at eight local elementary and middle

schools, conducting fun, grade-appropriate mathe-

matical activities.

In addition, all area K-6 students were invited to

come to the NDSU Math Fair on Friday, April 17.

There were booths devoted to encrypting messages,

tesselations, tic-tac-toe on a cylinder, math bingo,

candy permutations, and a giant fractal snowflake

which all participants helped decorate.

Local school visits and Math Fair

9

The following students are currently partially sup-

ported by scholarship from the Department of

Mathematics:

Davis Cope Scholarship: Brett Knudsen

Anderson/Hill Math Scholarship: Presley Glaser

David Ferguson Memorial Scholarship: Kevin

Mathews

Fred Haring Scholarship: Anuj Teotia

Lonnie D. Hass Scholarship: Zachariah Neville

Hawthorn Mathematics Scholarship: Aloysia

Pfeiffer

Hill-Tidd Scholars Award: Alex Koppy

Ronald M. Mathsen Math Scholarship: Vijay Shah

Gil Nelson Scholarship: Kevin Trowbridge and Patri-

cia Zikmund

James Olsen Scholarship: Dakota Ihli

Lloyd Olson Scholarship: Halley Fritze

Pythagoras Award: Benjamin Ek, Jessica Fredrickson,

Katie Hieserich, Jared Rudolph, and Dylan Vukelich

Warren E. Shreve Scholarship: Sage Malingen

Matilda Thompson Scholarship: Eugene Stepan

KN Rao Exam Scholarship: Vijay Shah, Bao Li, and

Colton Keller

In 2015, 19 students completed their senior semi-

nar project. This project includes doing some re-

search under the direction of a faculty member in

the department. The students write a paper and

also do a presentation at the end of the seminar.

Loren Anderson, Austin Usselman, and Mitchell

Zubich were advised by Dogan Comez;

Angela Cox, Robert Suppa, and Alex Koppy were

advised by Indranil SenGupta;

Alanna Dietz and Presley Glaser were advised by

William Martin;

Michael Feickert, Katherine Scholz, and Matthew Do-

nahue were advised Jason Boynton;

Garrett Filipek was advised by Maria Alfonseca;

Elizabeth Grefsrud and Dakota Ihli were advised by

Michael Cohen;

Aaron Crenshaw was advised by Mohamed Baghzali;

Austin Lambert was advised by Friedrich Littmann;

Joe Allen was advised by Trevor McGuire;

Brett Knutsen was advised by Josef Dorfmeister;

Amber Willenburg was advised by Kevin Dilks;

Kyle Ryan was advised by Trevor McGuire and War-

ren Shreve.

Current scholarship recipients

Senior Seminars in 2015

Awards in the department

The 2015 Department Graduate Student Awardees

are Mark Spanier (teaching) and Liz Sattler

(research).

The current teaching fellows are Cody Martin, Sara

Solhjem, Chelsey Morrow, Brian Chapman, Jayant

Singh, and Erin Brownlee.

The annual K.N. Rao Mathematics Competition was

held on October 17. The competition is open to all un-

dergraduates enrolled at any of the Tri-College Institu-

tions: Concordia College, Minnesota State University

Moorhead, and North Dakota State University. This

year’s top five students are:

First place: Vijay Shah, NDSU

Second place: Bao Li, NDSU

Third place: Colton Keller, NDSU

Fourth place: Pratik Dahal, MSUM

Fifth place: Kevin Trowbridge, NDSU

K.N. Rao Competition 2015

10

Donors to the Department

Mr. James R. Lukach

Mrs. Barbara A. and Mr. Dale Haack

Dr. Edward D. and Mrs. Judith Elgethun

D Busek Properties of ND, LLC Donald J. Busek

Mr. David E. and Mrs. Judy Gingrey

Mr. Timothy and Mrs. Mary Harms

Mr. Leroy and Mrs. Janice Odegaard

Dr. Xiaotao Cai and Mrs.Sunjun Qian

Mr. Daryl and Mrs. Bette A. Ovesen Pring

Mr. George A. and Mrs. Alice Watland

Dr. James A. Meier

Dr. Ronald M. and Mrs. Lillian Mathsen

Mr. Alden J. Hagen

Mr. James F. and Mrs. Susan Koering

Dr. Ronald M. and Mrs. Lillian Mathsen

Dr. Richard E. and Mrs. Nancy Shermoen

Dr. Ronald M. and Mrs. Lillian Mathsen

Dr. Mark and Mrs. Carol Kiemele

Mr. David R. and Mrs. Helen Duncan

Mr. Marvin F. and Mrs. Janice Leidal

Mrs. Eunice Toussaint

Mr. Paul A. Flasch

Mr. Armin Rubbert and Marie Boldt-Rubbert

The Department of Mathematics thanks all who have contributed to the Mathematics scholarships and

funds; your help is most welcome and greatly appreciated!

Included is my gift of $ ________ .

Please utilize my gift for

Scholarship.

Payment option

□ Check enclosed

Charge my credit card

□ Visa □ MasterCard □ Discover

Card No.

Expiration Date

Billing Address

Phone

Signature

Detach and send with your gift to

Development Foundation

P.O. Box 5144

Fargo, ND 58105

Make checks payable to NDSU Development Foundation.

Your continued financial support is requested for the Department of Mathematics to keep the

scholarship program growing

There are several scholarships that you may wish to support:

The Davis Cope Scholarship, the Fred Haring Scholarship, the Lonnie D. Hass Scholarship, the Hill-

Tidd Scholarship, the Mathematics Scholarship, the Ronald M. Mathsen Scholarship, the Gilbert Nel-

son Scholarship, the David Ferguson Memorial Scholarship, the James H. Olsen Scholarship, the

Lloyd Olson Scholarship, the Mathilda Thompson Scholarship, and the Warren E. Shreve Scholar-

ship.

All scholarships are handled through the NDSU Development Foundation.

11

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NAME ___________________________________________________________________________________

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12

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NDSU Dept 2750 PO Box 6050 Fargo, ND 58108-6050 Tel. 701.231.8171 Fax 701.231.7598 e-mail: ndsu.math@ndsu.edu Editors: Michael Cohen, Artem Novozhilov, and Jes-sica Striker