Author Archives: Xander

About Xander

Xander completed his PhD in mathematics at UC Riverside in the Spring of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. His thesis, titled Fractal Zeta Functions in Metric Measure Spaces, explores some connections between the geometry of certain metric spaces, and the spectra of the Laplace operator on those spaces. He is currently an instructor at Northland Pioneer College, out in the beautiful deserts of northern Arizona.

Herald’s House of Horrors

We often come up with solutions to problems that lend themselves to various interpretations. Exploring the different interpretations can be useful, as such exploration has the potential to provide deeper insight into the problem at hand, or lead to an … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness XXIII

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All Roads…

One of the great joys of mathematics—and one of the things that I think is often lost in lower level math classes—is that problems, especially the interesting ones, rarely have a single solution. When a given question is asked, there … Continue reading

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Ghosts

For whatever reason, I have been unable to get into the student database on campus. What this means is that I have no access to up-to-date rosters for my algebra classes. Because I do not know who is still taking … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness XXII

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness XXI

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness XX

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness XIX

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A Quiz Question

I am always fascinated to see how students manage to incorrectly answer exam and quiz questions. Not only does this provide a great insight into my own deficiencies as an instructor, but it also gives me some idea about how … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness XVIII

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