Newsletter 2019
McHenry Building
Mathematics Newsletter, Fall 2019
In This Issue:
- Colloquium/Seminar Schedule
- Preliminary Exam Dates
- Important Dates for 2019-20
- Colloquia and Seminars 2018-19
- New Graduate Students
- New Faculty Profiles
- New Department Manager - Kathryn Baldwin
- New Graduate Coordinator - Gina Hernan
- New Department Assistant - Michael Brumm
- Directed Reading Program (DRP)
- 2019 Award Winners
- MBAMP: Serving Local Students
Colloquium/Seminar Schedule:
4-5pm McHenry Room TBA
McHenry Room 4161
McHenry Room 4130
McHenry Room 4130
McHenry Room 4130
4-5pm McHenry Room 4130
Preliminary Exam Dates:
Check for updates!
09/27/19 Algebra 9am-2pm
McHenry Room 4191
10/04/19 Analysis 9am-2pm
McHenry Room 4191
10/11/19 Geometry 9am-2pm
McHenry Room 4191
Important Dates: *mandatory for new graduate students
09/18/19 Inclusive Classroom Practices Training
09/19/19 Inclusive Classroom Practices Training
09/21/19 Fall Quarter Begins
*09/23/19 Mathematics Graduate Orientation for new grads. Schedule TBA
09/24/19 all Math Graduate Orientation for current and new grads. Schedule TBA
9:30am - 10:30am: Title IX Training international students only - Classroom Unit 2
12:15pm - 12:45pm: UAW 2865 Teaching Assistant Union Presentation
1:00pm - 3:30pm: Resource Fair, Luncheon & Social - Quarry Amphitheater
Mandatory TA training Workshop with Frank Bauerle & Jen Correia *update?*
2018-2019 Colloquia & Seminars
General Colloquium :
- Pedro Morales, UCSC. Summation of divergent series
- David Stork, Stanford, Rambus Inc. When computers look at art
- Ovidiu Muntean, U of Connecticut. Analysis of the singularities of the Ricci flow in dimension four
- Weiyong He, U of Oregon. Chen-Cheng’s breakthrough on scalar curvature type equations on compact Kahler manifolds and its extensions
- Richard Taylor, Stanford. Galois Groups and Locally Symmetric Spaces
- Colin Guillarmou, Paris-Sud. The marked length spectrum of Anosov flows
- Michael Hortmann, University of Bremen. Cryptography for crypto-currencies
- Qiang Guang, UCSB. Compactness for minimal surfaces with free boundary
- Michael Beeson, San José State. Triangle Tiling
- Gabriel Paternain, Cambridge University. Nonlinear detection of Hermitian connections in Minkowski space
- Ralph Abraham, UCSC. Santa Cruz and Chaos: The place of UCSC in the History of Chaos Theory
- Theo Johnson-Freyd, Perimeter Institute. Bott periodicity from quantum Hamiltonian reduction
- Song Sun, UC Berkeley. Metric collapsing of hyperkahler K3 surfaces
- Alex Vladimirsky, Cornell University. Agreeing to Disagree in Anisotropic Crowds
- Daniel Cristofaro-Gardiner, UCSC. Subleading asymptotics of ECH capacities
- Victor Dods, LedgerDomain. Recent Results in the Kepler-Heisenberg Problem; From Numerics to Proofs
- Sarah Scherotzke, MSRI Bonn. The Chern character and categorification
- Francois Monard, UCSC. Inversion of abelian and non-abelian ray transforms in the presence of statistical noise
- Anthony Tromba, UCSC. On a Resolution of Hilbert's 19th Problem
Geometry and Analysis :
- Gabe Martins, MSRI, Different Aspects of Classical and Quantum Confinement
- Morgan Weiler, UC Berkeley. Mean action of periodic orbits of area-preserving annulus diffeomorphisms
- Jingyi Chen, U of British Columbia. Some recent progress on Hamiltonian stationary Lagrangian submanifolds
- Thibault de Poyferre, UC Berkeley. Gravity water waves and emerging bottom
- Selim Sukhtaiev, Rice University. The Maslov index and the spectra of second order elliptic operators
- Marco Mazzucchelli, ENS Lyon & MSRI. Min-Max Characterizations of Zoll Riemannian manifolds
- Bo Guan, Ohio State University. Fully nonlinear elliptic equations on Riemannian manifolds
- Pedro Morales, UCSC. Spectral Zeta Functions and their applications to the Casimir Effect.
- Or Hershkovits, Stanford University. Mean Curvature Flow of Surfaces.
- Michael Landry, Yale University. Surfaces almost transverse to circular pseudo-Anosov flows
- Michelle Chu, UCSB. Quantifying virtual properties of arithmetic hyperbolic 3-manifolds
- Alex Mramor, UC Irvine. Low Entropy and the Mean Curvature Flow with Surgery
- Yiran Wang, Stanford University. (talk title not recorded)
- Priyanka Rajan, Notre Dame. Exotic Spheres of Cohomogeneity two
- Qing Han, Notre Dame. Asymptotic Expansions of Solutions of the Yamabe Equation and the sigma-k Yamabe Equation near Isolated Singular Points
- Dave Smith, Yale-NUS College. Nonlocal problems for linear evolution equations
- Moritz Reintjes, Regensburg University. How to smooth wrinkles in spacetime
Algebra and Number Theory :
- James Cameron, UCLA. Local cohomology modules of group cohomology rings via topology
- Johan Steen, UCSC. A representation theoretic approach to multi-parameter clustering
- Cameron Franc, University of Saskatchewan. Modular forms of rank 4 and level 1
- Ryan Drury, UCSC. Steenrod operations on algebraic De Rham cohomology
- Daniel Bragg, UC Berkeley. Derived equivalences of twisted supersingular K3 surfaces
- Theo Johnson-Freyd, Perimeter Institute. Galois actions on VOA gauge anomalies
- Florian Sprung, Arizona State. How does the rank of an elliptic curve grow in towers of number fields?
- Chris Marks, Chico State. Period relations for Riemann surfaces with many automorphisms
- Richard Gottesman, Queen's University. Vector-Valued Modular Forms
- Paul VanKoughnett, Purdue. A new approach to Goerss-Hopkins obstruction theory
- Suzana Milea, UCSC. (talk title not recorded)
Graduate Colloquium : (talks by UCSC graduate students)
- Kim Stubbs. Geometric Representations of Dedekind's Proof of Irrationality
- Victor Bermudez. (talk title not recorded)
- Zheng Zhou. Asymptotics of Determinants for Finite Sections of Operators with Almost Periodic Diagonals
- Alejandro Bravo Doddoli. Fun Math, Why Can the Child Swing Alone?
- Víctor Bermúdez. The Geometry of the Tangent Bundle of a Riemannian Manifold
- Special guest : Christy Hightower, Science & Engineering Distinguished Librarian, UCSC. Scholarly Communication Trends, Tools and Tips: Five Things Every Mathematics Graduate Student Should Know
- Alejandro Bravo Doddoli. From Euler-Lagrange Equation to Hamel Equation
- Alejandro Bravo Doddoli. Introduction to Geometry of Goursat Distribution and Bifurcation Theory
New Mathematics Faculty
Welcome to the UCSC Mathematics Department !
We are so happy you are here !
Hatice Mutlu - Visiting Assistant Professor
I recently completed my PhD at Bilikent University and joined the UCSC Math Department in the Fall of 2019 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. My research focuses on representation of finite groups, in particular, functorial methods. I mostly work on the Burnside ring, the monomial Burnside ring, the ordinary and p-modular character rings, and the p-permutation ring.
Outside of mathematics, I enjoy hiking, cycling, and travelling to new places.
Yuchin Sun - Visiting Assistant Professor
Yuchin recently received her Ph.D. in June of 2019 from Imperial College, London, and will join the department in Fall. Her research interests lie primarily in Differential Geometry and Geometric Analysis, especially finite-dimensional Morse theory. Her thesis was "Index bound of minimal 2-sphere," and she will be working with Professor Jie Qing and Professor Longzhi Lin.
Department Manager - Kathryn Baldwin
Kathryn Baldwin
Returning to the department after a successful couple of years with Baskin Engineering, Kathryn is now our Department Manager. Kathryn attended The Ohio State University and majored in Sociology and Psychology. She also completed a Masters in Library Information Science at Kent State University. She worked for the Mathematics Department at Columbus State Community College in Ohio for 5 years. She moved to Santa Cruz from Ohio in July 2014, and began her career at UCSC that December. Welcome to Kathryn in her new role !
Graduate Student Coordinator - Gina Hernan
Gina Hernan
Gina has changed roles, and is now the Graduate Advisor and Program Coordinator for the Mathematics Department. She previously worked for Lick Observatory from April to September 2016, and Physics from August 2016 to June 2017. She joined the Department in March 2017 as the department assistant, and has continuously demonstrated her expert quality skills and dedication. We are truly lucky to have her in this new position, bringing her creativity to the job, and passionately campaigning for our graduate students !
Department Assistant - Michael Brumm
Michael Brumm
In late-breaking news, we announce the arrival, starting October 2019, of Michael Brumm as our Department Assistant. Michael is a Slug Alum with a Bachelors in Creative Writing, much experience in a range of office settings, and some interesting periods of self-employment as a freelance writing consultant and tutor. A born Ohioan, Michael brings an eclectic mix of interests and talents to the job, including computer skills, science fiction, and translation work in the constructed language Loglan.
New Graduate Students Fall 2019
- Ampagouni, Divya Maneesha
- Barut, Erol
- Bhamidipati, Deewang
- Breland, Jadyn
- Dowd, Cheyenne
- Guerrero, Jennifer
- Henningsen, Harrison
- Kennerly, Shane
- Ma, Brian
- Miller, Sam
- Nashed, Maryam
- Newman, Nicolas
- Price, Amethyst
- Reardon, Leland
- Schanzer, Spencer
- Sutrave, Vaibhav
- Tastan, Fulya
The Directed Reading Program
Organizer: Nathan Marianovsky
The Directed Reading Program (DRP) at UCSC pairs experienced graduate students with motivated undergraduates to meet weekly and discuss a topic of their choice. This is a valuable opportunity for undergraduate students to learn material not offered in classes, and for graduate students to contribute their expertise and gain experience in outreach and mentoring.At the end of the quarter, undergraduate students give a 15-20 minute talk about their work. We expect graduate students to help their mentees prepare for this talk - communicating knowledge is just as important as acquiring it!
Future plans for the program include securing further funding from external sources to broaden participation, as well as connecting with other DRPs in the Bay Area to provide more speaking opportunities for undergraduate math majors. For more information see https://campusdirectory.ucsc.edu/cd_detail?uid=nmariano.
Mathematics Awards Spring 2019
Congratulations to the recipients of our Mathematics Awards in 2019! They each received $1,000 awards in recognition of their accomplishments in the Mathematics major—Pure Mathematics concentration. We are honored to recognize their hard work and to be able to present them with an award.
Sandra Nair and Shane Kennerly were selected by Mathematics faculty as recipients of this year's J.W.T. Youngs Memorial Undergraduate Award in Mathematics. The family and friends of Professor Youngs, a former professor at UCSC, established the award after he tragically passed away in 1970. Professor Youngs was a member of the Mathematics Department and a Fellow of Cowell College. The endowment was established to honor his memory by supporting two annual prizes, one for an outstanding student of mathematics enrolled in Cowell College, and one for an outstanding student of mathematics enrolled anywhere on the Santa Cruz campus. The Youngs award is administered by the Mathematics Department.
We wish them all success in their future endeavors!
Sandra Nair
My name is Sandra Nair. I am an international student from India, currently in the third year of my double major in Pure Mathematics and Physics. I am constantly amazed by the intersection of these two incredible subjects, as found in string theory and quantum field theory. It is my ardent faith that a final unified theory of mathematics is indistinguishable from the physics counterpart, as Nature has a way of projecting the most fascinating objects into reality. I aim to be a mathematical physicist who studies and explores these abstract territories for a living. The only way for us to make progress in the fundamental sciences is through the influx of ideas and new approaches- both of which are directly proportional to the background of the next generation of scientists. Therefore, it is our duty to encourage and promote underrepresented minorities in STEM- women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ folks, differently abled persons etc. to name a few categories. It is my hope that the recognition brought forth by this award would lead to a greater diversity in the people considering mathematics as a career. We need more people like Noether, Ramanujan, Turing, and Hawking to get to the next level. We need scientists who are in touch with their humanity if our kind is to survive the next millennium.
Shane Kennerly
Hi, I’m Shane Kennerly, and I’m currently finishing my undergraduate degrees in Pure Mathematics and Computer Science here at UCSC. I had originally intended to apply to the university as a proposed physics major, but after taking a couple more math-heavy courses at the end of high school, I realized that what I really liked about physics was the underlying mathematics. Throughout my four years of studying math here, my love for the subject has only grown as I’ve been able to engage more deeply in these concepts through my coursework. I am honored to receive this award, and would like to thank Prof. Junecue Suh, Prof. Robert Boltje, and Prof. Ed Karasiewicz, as well as the rest of the Mathematics Department and the professors I’ve had for giving me these opportunities to learn and helping me along the way. I have thoroughly enjoyed these past four years here, and am extremely grateful for the friends I’ve made, the things I’ve learned, and the experiences I’ve had, both academic and extracurricular. I plan to begin my Master’s in Pure Mathematics here this coming fall, and will hopefully pursue a Ph.D. in the future.
Serving Middle and High School Students
Monterey Bay Area Mathematics Project - MBAMP
The Monterey Bay Area Mathematics Project (MBAMP) exists to increase the academic achievement of primary and secondary students in mathematics (grades K – 12) via professional development programs (PD) for teachers. These programs enhance subject knowledge and teaching skills of classroom teachers, producing more effective educators, and thus better-prepared, better-achieving students. By offering these PD opportunities to a wider range of teachers, MBAMP will also reduce achievement and performance gaps between different student populations.
Core to the improvements sought by MBAMP are its partnerships with local school districts; the Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, and Santa Clara County Offices of Education (COEs); the Mathematics faculty of UCSC; and other organizations concerned about mathematics education.
MBAMP is dedicated to providing students a rich, rigorous, and coherent mathematics curriculum taught by competent and confident mathematics teachers who foster all students’ proficiency in mathematics— achieving equity in quality. All teachers and students become mathematical thinkers as they investigate, conjecture, and justify in their pursuit of mathematical knowledge.
