Undergraduate Research

My primary research interests are in algebra and number theory, but I will work in other areas when an interesting question arises - especially if I can get an undergraduate involved. I have worked with undergraduates on projects in or relating to abstract algebra, number theory, analysis, and mathematical biology.



Left: Jun Ma (Class of 2005) presenting his poster "When Thue-Morse meets Koch" at the American Mathematical Society's national meetings in Atlanta, Georgia.

Research Opportunites

There are many opportunities for Kenyon's undergraduates to do research in mathematics. Some students do research for 8-10 weeks in the summer through Kenyon's Summer Science Scholar program. Others pursue research during the academic year as an independent study or as an extracurricular acitivity. Many undergraduates present their work at regional and national mathematics meetings. Some even publish their work in mathematics research journals.

Are you an undergraduate interested in getting involved in research? If so, write to me or come talk to me. Some research problems require very little in the way of prerequisites; most require a course or two (or more) at the upper level. We can discuss your options to see if there is a problem that is suitable for your background and interests.


Publications with Students:

Ma J. and J.A. Holdener. When Thue-Morse meets Koch, Fractals: Complex Geometry, Patterns, and Scaling in Nature and Society, 13 (2005) 191-206
(Jun Ma won Kenyon's Tomsich Science Award for this research.)

Holdener J.A. and A. Wagaman. "A Classification of Periodic Turtle Sequences," The International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences, 34 (2003) 2193-2201


Student Presentations at Regional and National Meetings:

William Stanton. "Perfect Numbers and the Abundancy Index," Mathematical Association of America's national summer meeting, Knoxville, TN. August, 2006.
(Will won a Pi Mu Epsilon student presentation award for giving one of the best talks at the meeting.)

Jun Ma. "When Thue-Morse meets Koch," American Mathematical Society's national meeting, Atlanta, GA. January, 2005.

Kulu Moyo. "Modeling the Construction of a Spider Web," Ohio Section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, OH, March 23, 2001.

Heather Van Ligten. "Modeling Trees Using Matrices," Ohio Section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, OH, March 23, 2001.

Adam Knapp. "A Puzzling Puzzle Unpuzzled," Ohio Section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, April 7, 2000.

Llewellyn Jones. "Modeling Branching Growth," Ohio Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, April 8, 2000.


Other Research Projects with Students:

"Product-free Sets in the Card Game SET," Jun Ma. Fall 2003.

"The 3n+1 Conjecture," Joanna Guild. Spring, 2003

"Modeling Tree Structure and Growth using L-systems and Java3D," Joshua White. Summer Science Scholar, 2000

"Surface Rendering and 3D Graphics," Atul Varma. Summer Science Scholar, 1999

"Consecutive Perfect Numbers (actually, the Lack Thereof!)," James Riggs. Spring, 1998
(Jim Riggs won a Franklin Miller Award for this research.)


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March 14, 2007