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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
KEEP IN TOUCH! Do you have news to share with your former classmates? Please take a minute to complete the
following section and return it to us via fax, e-mail, or the postal service to the address listed be-
low. We’d love to hear from you! Also, if you would like us to put a recent picture of you into
the next newsletter, send it along.
NAME ___________________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS _______________________________________________________________________________
CITY ___________________________ STATE__________________ ZIP______________
TELEPHONE__________________________ E-MAIL___________________________________________
PLACE OF WORK_______________________________ POSITION_______________________________
COMMENTS, AWARDS, ACHIEVEMENTS_____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
12
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NDSU Dept 2750 PO Box 6050 Fargo, ND 58108-6050 Tel. 701.231.8171 Fax 701.231.7598 e-mail: [email protected] Editors: Michael Cohen, Artem Novozhilov, and Jes-sica Striker