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.

The Mandelbrot Set—Part III: Complex Numbers

The Mandelbrot Set Series: This post is the third in a series on the Mandelbrot set. The Mandelbrot set resides upon the complex plane. This means that in order to look more closely at the Mandelbrot set itself, we need … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness V

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Sonic the Hedgehog 4

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I bought a Sega Genesis. Well, to be fair, I bought something like a 60% share in a Sega Genesis—my little sister, who had basically no interest in gaming, owned the other … Continue reading

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The Mandelbrot Set—Part II: Exploring the Mandelbrot Set

The Mandelbrot Set Series: This post is the second in a series on the Mandelbrot set. In this post, we are going to spend some time exploring the set, in order to get a feel for some of the structures … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness IV

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Bones

When students are first taught mathematics, the skills that they learn are concrete, and the teaching methodologies are equally concrete. When taught to add, students might physically group blocks, for instance by counting one group of blocks, then another, and … Continue reading

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The Mandelbrot Set—Part I: Fractals

Every Monday for the past several weeks, I have posted an image under the heading Monday Mandelbrot Madness. I have offered up these images largely on aesthetic grounds, and offered very little in the way of mathematical explanation. There are … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness III

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One By Any Other Name

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet… —William Shakespeare In our daily lives, we are accustomed to giving multiple names to a single object. My wife calls me Xander, … Continue reading

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Monday Mandelbrot Madness II

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