About me
I am a fifth-year PhD candidate in the mathematics department at the University of Minnesota. I study analysis and probability, and in particular discrepancy theory and energy optimization. My advisor is Dmitriy Bilyk. I did my undergraduate work at Carleton College.
You can contact me at michmast "at" umn "dot" edu. My office is Vincent Hall 520.
Find my CV here (updated Sept. 2022)
Research
Publications
"Lower bounds for the directional discrepancy with respect to an interval of rotations" (with Dmitriy Bilyk). Journal of Fourier Analysis and Applications 29 (2023). Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00041-023-10005-7
Submitted papers
"The spherical cap discrepancy of HEALPix points" (with Damir Ferizović and Julian Hofstadler). arXiv link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.07552
"Polarization and greedy energy on the sphere" (with Dmitriy Bilyk, Ryan Matzke, and Stefan Steinerberger). arXiv link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.13067
From undergraduate research
C. Gaetz, M. Mastrianni, R. Patrias, H. Peck, C. Robichaux, D. Schwein, K.Y. Tam, K-Knuth Equivalence for Increasing Tableaux, Electron. J. Comb., 23(1) (2016), #P1.40.
Talks and Travel
Upcoming:
May 15-18, 2023: Speaking at the Shanks Conference on "Approximation Theory and Beyond" at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Past:
April 22-23, 2023: Contributed a poster at the "Applications of Harmonic Analysis to Convex Geometry" conference at NDSU, Fargo, ND
April 18, 2023: Spoke in the Carleton College Math/Stats Colloquium.
Mar 18-19, 2023: Spoke in the session on Convexity and High-Dimensional Probability at the AMS sectional meeting in Atlanta, GA.
Nov 21, 2022: Spoke in the Probability and Analysis Webinar.
Nov 15, 2022: Spoke in the Rainwater Seminar at the University of Washington.
July 17-22, 2022: "Workshop on Monte-Carlo and Quasi-Monte-Carlo Methods" at RICAM, Linz, Austria
Organized a special session `Quantifying Notions of Equidistribution on the Sphere' with Damir Ferizović
Gave talk "The spherical cap discrepancy of HEALPix points"
July 11-15, 2022: "Random and Deterministic Point Configurations" at Lluís Santaló School, UIMP, Santander, Spain
Gave talk "Directional discrepancy on restricted intervals and Cantor sets"
June 27-July 1, 2022: "Point Distributions: Deformations and Rigidity" at LMS Research School, UCL, London, England
Contributed poster "Directional discrepancy on restricted intervals and Cantor sets"
June 13-17, 2022: "Harmonic Analysis and Related Topics" at Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Barcelona, Spain
Contributed poster "Directional discrepancy on restricted intervals and Cantor sets"
May 23-27, 2022: "Workshop in Convexity and High-Dimensional Probability" at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA
Gave talk "Directional discrepancy on restricted intervals and Cantor sets"
Oct 12, 2021: spoke in the Analysis Seminar at TU Graz (Graz, Austria) on "Problems in Directional Discrepancy"
Oct 5, 2021: spoke in the Analysis Seminar at KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium) on "Problems in Directional Discrepancy"
Oct 21, 2020: gave an expository talk in the Point Distributions Webinar on "Bounds for Star-Discrepancy with Dependence on the Dimension". Slides / Video
Outreach
I am a co-organizer in 2022-23 of the Directed Reading Program and have participated as a DRP mentor for several undergraduate students, reading on topics such as graduate probability theory, discrepancy theory, and energy optimization on the sphere.
I was a co-organizer of the Point Distributions Webinar in Spring 2022.
I was a member of the UMN SIAM student chapter in 2019-2020. After the pandemic stifled our ability to host events with faculty, I helped compile a google drive with video introductions to the research of several UMN math faculty members open to taking students. If you would like access to the drive (even though it's a few years old :)), please contact me.
In 2018-2019, I facilitated the Undergraduate Problem Solving Group.
Teaching
Spring 2023: I am the instructor for an asynchronous online section of MATH 1272 (Calculus II).
Previously: Have lectured for MATH 1271 (Calculus I) in asynchronous online format; four sections of MATH 1272 (Calculus II) in both synchronous and asychronous online formats; MATH 2243 (Linear Algebra and Differential Equations) in synchronous online format; MATH 1031 (College Algebra), conducted in-person until the class moved to synchronous online instruction; and TA'ed for MATH 1051 (Precalculus I).
Pre-graduate school: I was a Title I teacher for 9th-grade math at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in midtown Minneapolis in 2017-18.
Other: I occasionally tutor math and statistics at the high school, college, and graduate levels through Advantage Testing of Minneapolis, since 2016.