Education and Research

Elyn Rykken

EDUCATION | PUBLICATIONS | TALKS/PRESENTATIONS


Education

Ph.D. Mathematics, Northwestern University, Evanston,IL.

  • Thesis: Markov Partitions and the Expanding Factor for Pseudo-Anosov Homeomorphisms.
  • Thesis Advisor: Professor John Franks.
  • Research Area: Dynamical Systems.

M.A. Mathematics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

B.A. Mathematics, Summa cum Laude, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN.

  • While at St. Olaf, I participated in the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Program. Through this program, mathematics majors in their junior/senior years spend one semester in Budapest studying under the tutelage of eminent Hungarian scholar-teachers. Courses are taught in English.

Publications

  • M. Dworkin and E. Rykken, “Constructions on the Sphere,” Math Horizons, Volume 23, No. 4, April 2016, pp. 8-11.

  • E. Rykken and J. Sorensen, “Sprinkler Bifurcations and Stability,” College Mathematics Journal, Volume 41, No. 5, November 2010, pp. 383-391(9). Download a PDF.
  • M. Carroll, E. Rykken and J. Sorensen, “Waiting to Turn Left?” College Mathematics Journal, Volume 41, Number 1, January 2010 , pp. 60-63. Download a PDF.
  • A. Crannell, G. La Rose, T. Ratliff, and E. Rykken, “ Writing Projects for Mathematics Courses: Crushed Clowns, Cars, and Coffee to Go, ” Washington DC: Mathematics Association of America, 2004.
  • M. Carroll and E. Rykken, “Stuck in Traffic in Chicago: A World Wide Web Calculus Project,”  MAA Online's Innovative Teaching Exchange, first appeared August 2000.  (This is a refereed electronic journal still available at http://www.maa.org/t_and_l/exchange/ite7/traffic.html).
  •  “Expanding Factors for Pseudo-Anosov Homeomorphisms,” Michigan Mathematical Journal, Volume 46, Fall 1999, pp. 281 - 296.
  • E. Rykken and J. Sorensen, “Volumes and History: A Calculus Project Involving Reading an Original Source,” MAA Online's Innovative Teaching Exchange, first appeared Fall 1999.(This is a refereed electronic journal still available at http://www.maa.org/t_and_l/exchange/ite5/hodgson.html).

Talks/Presentations

  • Transitioning to a Laguerre Basis,” MAA Session on Innovative and Effective Ways to Teach Linear Algebra, Joint AMS - MAA Mathematics Meetings, San Francisco, CA, January 13 - 16, 2010. This talk was presented jointly with M. Carroll.
  • “The Blarney's Party: an Exercise in Mathematical Induction,” MAA session on the Power of Inductive and Recursive Thinking, Joint AMS - MAA Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA, January 6 - 9, 2008.  Presented jointly with Linda McGuire.
  •  “A Remote Sensing Demo Using ENVI,” MAA session on Innovative and Effective Ways to Teach Linear Algebra., Joint AMS - MAA Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA, January 6 - 9, 2008.  Presented jointly with Linda McGuire.
  • “What Does a Mathematician Do?  Presenting Recent Articles in Upper Level Courses,” MAA Session on Getting Students To Discuss and To Write About Mathematics, Joint AMS – MAA Mathematics Meetings, Atlanta, GA, January 5 – 8, 2005.
  • “On Thin Ice: Problems with the New System for Judging Figure Skating,” Contributed Paper Session on Popular and Recreational Mathematics, MAA-NJ Sectional Meeting, Rutgers, March 27, 2004.
  •  “Remote Sensing Meets Linear Algebra,” MAA Session on Mathematical Models of the Environment, Joint AMS-MAA Mathematics Meetings, Phoenix, AZ, January 7 – 10, 2004.
  • “The Canadians Should Have Won!?”, MAA Contributed Paper Session, Joint AMS-MAA Meetings, Baltimore, MD, January 15 - 18, 2003. 
  • “The Wallet Paradox Revisited,” MAA Contributed Paper Session, Joint AMS-MAA Meetings, San Diego, CA, January 5-9, 2002.
  • “Stuck in Traffic in Chicago: A World Wide Web Project,” MAA Session on Innovative Uses of the Word Wide Web in Teaching Mathematics, Joint AMS-MAA Mathematics Meetings, New Orleans, LA, January 13, 2001.
  • “Stuck in Traffic,” MAA Poster Session on Using the Web in Teaching Undergraduate Mathematics, Joint AMS-MAA Mathematics Meetings, San Antonio, TX, January 14, 1999.
  • “Volumes of Solids of Revolution: An Historical Approach,” MAA Contributed Paper Session on The Uses of History in the Teaching of Mathematics, Joint AMS-MAA Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD, January 7-10, 1998.
  • “Constructing Markov Partitions for Pseudo-Anosov Homeomorphisms,” AMS Special Session on Low Dimensional Dynamics, Milwaukee, WI, October 24-25, 1997.
  • “Calculator Calculus for Commuters,” MAA Session on The Use of Hand-Held Technology in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics, Joint AMS-MAA Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA, January 8-11, 1997.
  • Two talks at the Dynamical Systems Seminar at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, May 1996.
  •  “Pseudo-Anosov Homeomorphisms,” Twenty-fifth Annual Midwest Dynamical Systems Conference, Cincinnati, OH, October 1995.
  •  “Conjugacies of Matrices in GL(2,Z),” Dynamical Systems Seminar, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, January 7, 1993.