Harron (2016)

Author

Harron, P

Year

2016

Title

The Equidistribution of Lattice Shapes of Rings of Integers of Cubic, Quartic, and Quintic Number Fields: an Artist’s Rendering — Based on the original story by Manjul Bhargava and Piper Harron

University

Princeton University

Discipline (uncoded)

Mathematics

Macrostructure

Analogous to Traditional-Simple

Proposed Area of Unconventionality
(Tardy, 2016)

Linguistic & Textual form, rhertorical aims & strategies, Content

Description and other notes

Introduction written for a lay audience. The first three chapters set out the terms for engagement with the dissertation (introduction to the topic, to the document, to the terms, to the approach) and the rest of the dissertation works through applying the approach and walking readers through the application and results. The conclusion is the final formula, although Harron humoursly adds “The End” along with a note that math papers don’t usually have “what you or I might call a ‘conclusion’” (p. 127). Last chapter is followed by the bibliography. Embeds humour, a social justice orientation, and different forms of writing throughout:”Her PhD thesis received recognition for its humorous style and blunt social commentary.” (https://beforetheabstract.com/piper-harron/). From Abstract: A fascinating tale of mayhem, mystery, and mathematics. Attached to each degree n number n-1 lattice called its shape. This thesis shows that the shapes of Sn-number fields (of degree n = 3; 4, or 5) become equidistributed as the absolute discriminant of the number held goes to infinity. The result for n = 3 is due to David Terr. Here, we provide a unified proof for n = 3; 4; and 5 based on the parametrizations of low rank rings due to Bhargava and Delone-Faddeev. We do not assume any of those words make any kind of sense, though we do make certain assumptions about how much time the reader has on her hands and what kind of sense of humor she has.”

(Proposed) Degree of separation or connection between atypical or unconventional component(s) and conventional or written component(s)

Connected. Atypical elements are inextricable from the conventional components of the dissertation.

(Proposed) Type of relationship construed between atypical or unconventional component(s) and conventional or written component(s)

Intermingled. There is a sense of interplay between the atypical and more conventional component(s). For instance, humour and prose is used to convey key aspects of the selected mathematical approach.

Notes/Reasoning

Playfully notes  the “somewhat silly, as in unserious yet mathemetically sound, nature of this thesis” in acknowledgements section (p. iv). Bluntly, apologetically notes an unwillingness to “pretend that all manner of ways of thinking are equally encouraged, or that there aren’t very real issues of lack of diversity” in the field (p. 1), as well as how calling this out is a critical part of the dissertation: “It is not my place to make the system comfortable with itself. This may be challenging for happy mathematicians to read through; my only hope is that the challenge is accepted.” (p. 1).

Discipline 2 (coded)

Math

Discipline Grouping (coded)

STEM

Source

Word of Mouth