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Thomas J. Wright
PERSONAL
Basic Information
Name: Thomas John Wright
Position: Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
Wofford College
Spartanburg, SC 29302
Email: wrighttj(at)wofford.edu
Work Phone: 864-597-4546
Cell Phone: 774-273-0724
Website: http://webs.wofford.edu/wrighttj
Education
- BA in Mathematics and Economics with Government Minor, Bowdoin College,
May 2003. Graduated Magna Cum Laude.
- MA in Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University, May 2006.
- Ph.D. in Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University, May 2009.
Academic Employment
- Assistant Professor, Wofford College, Sept. 2011-.
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Lawrence University, Sept. 2010-May 2011.
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University, Sept. 2009-May 2010.
- Graduate Student and Teaching Assistant, Johns Hopkins University, Sept. 2003-May 2009.
TEACHING
Teaching Awards:
- Mathematics Excellence in Teaching Award, May 2009.
- Finalist for Teaching Assistant of the Year, Johns Hopkins University, March
2008.
- William Kelso Morrill Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, May 2006.
Courses Taught:
Math Courses
- Functions of a Complex Variable: Fall 2014.
- Number Theory: Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016.
- Abstract Algebra: Spring 2015.
- Introduction to Proofs: Spring 2013, Spring 2015.
- Discrete Math: Fall 2013.
- Precalculus: Fall 2006.
- Calculus I: Summer 2008, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Fall 2014.
- Calculus II: Winter 2011, Fall 2014.
- Multivariable Calculus: Fall 2012, Fall 2015.
- Applied Calculus I: Winter 2011.
- Elementary Statistics: Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Fall 2015.
- Study of Patterns/Appreciation of Mathematics: Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2016.
Interim Courses
- Jazz, Baseball and Coca-Cola: American Culture in World War II: 2014, 2016.
- Music and Nature in Puerto Rico: 2015.
- Jazz and Negro League Baseball: Kansas City's Black Americana: 2013.
Committees and Service
- Interim Committee, 2015-.
- ROTC Committee, 2014-.
- Coach for Quiz Bowl team, 2012-
- Organizer for Wofford Putnam Competition Team, 2011-.
- Referee for Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Monthly (one paper), Journal of Number Theory (three papers), and Transactions of the American Mathematical Society (one paper).
- Organizer for Palmetto Area Number Theory Series (PANTS).
RESEARCH
Research Interests
Number theory: Carmichael numbers and associated pseudoprimes, prime gaps, Diophantine equations, adeles, p-adic analysis, elliptic curves
Papers/Books
Book Published
Trolling Euclid: An Irreverent Guide to Nine of Mathematics' Most Important Problems, Createspace Publishing, 2016.
Papers Published
Infinitely Many Carmichael Numbers in Arithmetic Progressions, Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society, 45 (2013), 943-952.
The Impossibility of Certain Types of Carmichael Numbers, INTEGERS 12 (2012), A31, 1-13.
Variants ofKorselt’sCriterion,Canadian Mathematics Bulletin, 58 (2015), 869-876.
Factors of Carmichael Numbers and the Weak k-tuple Conjecture,to appear in the Journal of the Australian Mathematical Society.
Infinitude of k-Lehmer numbers which are not Carmichael (joint with Nathan McNew), to appear in the International Journal of Number Theory.
On Cantor’s First Uncountability Proof, Pick’s Theorem, and the Irrationality of the Golden Ratio (joint with Mike Krebs), American Mathematical Monthly, 117 (7) (2010), 633-637.
Submitted/In Preparation
There Are Infinitely Many Elliptic Carmichael Numbers, in preparation, appears at http://webs.wofford.edu/wrighttj/job/carmichael_elliptic_2.pdf.
Appearing in an Online Periodical
If I Could Do It Over, Inside Higher Ed, October 27, 2010.
Just One Question, Inside Higher Ed, February, 9, 2011.
The Money Round, Inside Higher Ed, May 2, 2011.
Thesis
On Convergence of Singular Series for a Pair of Quadratic Forms, Ph.D. thesis for Johns Hopkins University.
Talks and Conferences
Conferences Organized
- Organized and hosted Southeastern Regional Meeting on Numbers (SERMON) at Wofford College, April 2014.
Invited Talks
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Thomas J. Wright
Fibonacci Numbers and Cantor's Uncountability Proof
Neat Teaching Idea: Multivariable Calculus in Two Objects and Seven Operations
The Erdös Conjectures on Arithmetic Progressions: Are Primes Clumpy?
Southeastern Sectional Meeting of the MAA, University of Alabama-Birmingham, 3/2016
Southeastern Sectional Meeting of the MAA, University of Alabama-Birmingham, 3/2016
Colloquium talk at Winthrop University, 11/2015
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Carmichael numbers and variants of Korselt’s criterion
Carl Pomerance's 70th birthday conference at University of Georgia, 6/2015
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Thomas J. Wright
Carmichael numbers: elliptic and arithmetical
Clemson University Colloquium, 11/2014;
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Quebec/Vermont Number Theory Series, 3/2014.
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Prime Sums and the Adeles,
University of South Carolina, 11/2011;
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Clemson University, 9/2011;
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Kansas State University, 4/2011;
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Johns Hopkins University, 12/2010.
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Primes and p-adics
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, May 2010.
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The Riemann Hypothesis
Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Math Club, 10/2010.
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Are Primes Random?
Muhlenberg College, February 2010.
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Triangles and Elliptic Curves: The Congruent Number Problem
Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Math Club, 11/2009.
Kenyon College, 2/2009;
Mt. Holyoke REU program, 7/2008;
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Thomas J. Wright
Mt. Holyoke REU program, 7/2007;
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Diophantine Questions and the Adeles
Graduate Student Arithmetic Seminar, University of Michigan, 9/2009.
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Waring’s Problem and the p-adics
VIGRE Departmental Seminar, University of Georgia, 3/2009.
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An Elementary Approach to Euler’s Concordant Forms
KIAS Number Theory Conference, Korean Institute for Advanced Studies, Seoul, South Korea, 6/2006.
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The ABC Conjecture and Related Conjectures
Mt. Holyoke REU program, 7/2005.
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Selected Contributed Talks
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Carmichael numbers: elliptic and arithmetical
Journees Arithmetiques, Budapest, 7/2015;
University of Turku Analytic Number Theory Conference, 5/2014.
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Carmichael numbers with prime numbers of prime factors
SouthEastern Regional Meeting on Numbers (SERMON), Winthrop University, 3/2015.
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Variants of Korselt's Criterion
Palmetto Area Number Theory Series (PANTS), South Carolina State University, 9/2014.
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The number of factors of a Carmichael number
SouthEastern Regional Meeting on Numbers (SERMON), Wofford College, 9/2014.
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Are there infinitely many elliptic Carmichael numbers?
Palmetto Area Number Theory Series (PANTS), Davidson College, 9/2013.
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Carmichael numbers in arithmetic progressions
Palmetto Area Number Theory Series (PANTS), Wake Forest, 9/2012.
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Talks Given at Wofford
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The Class Number Problem
The Erdös Conjectures on Arithmetic Progressions: Strings of Things
Pi Mu Epsilon induction ceremony special lecture, 4/2015.
Faculty Talk Series, 2/2014;
Pi Mu Epsilon talk, 11/2013.
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Benford's Law: Numerical Favoritism
Guy Jacobson Lecture, 9/2012.
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Thomas J. Wright
Grants Received:
- Wofford Student-Faculty Collaborative Grant, 2015, worked with student Tyler Woolley on "Infinitude of certain types of radimichael numbers."
- Wofford Student-Faculty Collaborative Grant, 2014, worked with students Alex Boutwell and Tyler Woolley on "Impossibility of certain types of Carmichael numbers."
- Wofford Summer Reseach Grant, 2012; wrote book Trolling Euclid: An Irreverent Guide to Nine of Mathematics' Most Important Problems, an accessible and funny introduction to some of number theory's most important problems; book appeared in February 2016.
Conferences Attended:
- MAA SE Sectional Meeting and Section NEXT, Mercer University, Macon, GA, March 2017
- Joint Mathematics Meetings, Atlanta, GA, Jan. 2017
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XXVIII, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, December 2016
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XXVII, UNC-Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, September 2016
- Arakelov Geometry and Automorphic Forms, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, June 2016
- MAA SE Sectional Meeting and Section NEXT, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, March 2016
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XXVI, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, December 2015
- Journees Arithmetiques, Debrecen, Hungary, July 2015
-Carl Pomerance 70th birthday conference, University of Georgia, June 2015
- SERMON Number Theory meeting, Wintrop University, Rock Hill, SC, April2015
-MAA Sectional Meeting and Section NEXT,UNC Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, March 2015
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XXIV, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, December 2014
-Palmetto Number Theory Series XXIII, South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC, September2014
- Arctic Analytic Number Theory Conference, University of Turku,Turku, Finland,May 2014
- MAA SE Sectional Meeting and Section NEXT, Tennessee Tech, Cookeville, TN, March 2014
- Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD, Jan. 2014
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XXI, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, Dec. 2013
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XX, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, Sept. 2013
- Journees Arithmetiques, Grenoble, France, July 2013
- Southeastern Regional Meeting on Numbers (SERMON), High Point University, High Point, NC, April 2013
- MAA Southeastern Section Meeting, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC, March 2013
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XIX, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, December 2012
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XVIII, Wake Forest University, Wake Forest, NC, September 2012
- CNTA Number Theory Conference, Lethbridge University, Lethbridge, AB, Canada, June 2012
- MAA SE Sectional Meeting, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA, March 2012
- Joint Mathematics Meetings, Boston, MA, Jan. 2012
- Palmetto Number Theory Series, Emory University, September 2011
MISCELLANEOUS
Music Compositions Performed or Recorded
- Fairy Tale, piece for big band, premiered by the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band in February 2014.
- Welcome to Earth!, piece for big band, premiered by the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band in October of 2015.
- Canyon, piece for big band, premiered by the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band in October of 2015.
- Variations on a Theme of the Brothers of Warner, arrangement for big band, premiered by the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band in December of 2015.
- Nes Gadol Haya Sham, arrangement for big band, premiered by the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band in December of 2016.
- Shell Game, piece for jazz combo, recorded by my funk quartet Earsight on self-titled album in June of 2014.
- Arc de Irie, piece for jazz combo, recorded by my funk quartet Earsight on self-titled album in June of 2014.
- Tianamarch, piece for New Orleans Brass Band, premiered by the Mill Town Brass Band in January of 2016.
- Machu Pikachu, piece for my duo Cat and Mouse, premiered at Wofford in October of 2013.
- Aya Sofia, piece for my duo Cat and Mouse, premiered at Wofford in October of 2013.
Bands
- Spartanburg Jazz Ensemble, saxophonist 2011-, director 2012-.
- Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band, saxophonist and composer-in-residence, 2014-.
- Earsight funk/jazz quartet, saxophonist and composer, 2013-.
- Ol'74 Big Band, saxophonist, 2014-.
- Windjammers' Dixieland Band, 2012-.
- Mill Town Brass Band, 2016-.
- Zataban blues band, 2012-2014.
- Gypsy Souls funk band, 2012-2013.
- Craig Sorrells' Project funk band, 2012-2013.
- Cat and Mouse jazz duo, 2012-2013.
Leadership Positions
- Director of Spartanburg Jazz Ensemble, 2012-.
- Board member for Greenville Jazz Collective nonprofit organization, 2014-.