Jill Dietz

Professor of Mathematics
Chair, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science

My Schedule

Click here to see my calendar. If you want to schedule a meeting, look for times that I'm not busy then send me an email asking if I really am available during a particular time. Note that my office hours (listed on the righthand panel) show up as busy times in my calendar, but you are welcome to swing by during those times.

Education

Ph.D.  Northwestern University, 1991
            Advisor: Dr. Stewart B. Priddy
            Dissertation:  Stable splittings of classifying spaces of metacyclic p-groups
M.S.   Northwestern University, 1988
B.A.   Brandeis University, 1986

Employment

St. Olaf College, 1996-present
Gettysburg College, 1995-1996
University of Washington, 1991-1995

Scholarship

I was trained as an algebraic topologist and am still interested in stable homotopy theory, but in recent years my research has leaned more toward algebra than topology.  In particular, I have been studying questions about automorphisms of groups.

  • Creating a culture of inquiry in mathematics programs, solicited for special edition of PRIMUS.
  • Automorphism groups of semi-direct products, to appear in Communications in Algebra.
  • Using a "single story" as an integrative thread in an upper-level mathematics course, PRIMUS, 19 (2009), 311-328.
  • On automorphisms of products of groups, Groups St. Andrews 2005 (London Math. Soc. Lecture Note Series 340), Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  • Stable splittings of classifying spaces of finite groups: Bridging the work of Benson-Feshbach and Martino-Priddy,  Homotopy, Homology and Applications, 8 (2006), 75-90.
  • Discovering Abstract Algebra: A Constructivist Approach to Module Theory, in "Beyond Calculus:  Innovative approaches to undergraduate mathematics courses," Richard Maher, ed., Mathematical Association of America, Washington DC, 2005.
  • Automorphisms of groups given as cyclic-by-elementary abelian central extensions, Journal of Algebra, 242 (2001), 417-432.
  • Classifying spaces of central group extensions, with Tommy Ratliff, Proceedings of Symposia in Pure Mathematics 63, Group Representations: Cohomology, Group Actions and Topology, AMS, 1998.
  • The cohomology of groups with rank 2 Sylow p-subgroups, with John Martino and Stewart Priddy, Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society 124 (1996), 2261-2266.
  • The role of the Steinberg module in splitting BG, Contemporary Mathematics 158: Connections between Algebraic Topology and Representation Theory, AMS, 1994.
  • The stable homotopy type of rank two p-groups, with Stewart Priddy, Contemporary Mathematics 188: Homotopy Theory and its Applications, AMS, 1995.
  • Stable splittings of classifying spaces of metacyclic 2-groups, Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 116 (1994), 285-299.
  • Stable splittings of classifying spaces of metacyclic p-groups, p odd, Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, 90 (1993), 115-136.

Teaching Interests

My main interest is promoting and conducting research with undergraduates. I am interested in problems in the areas of linear algebra, abstract algebra, knot theory, graph theory, and more. I have problems for students at all levels; some require little in terms of prerequisites, while others require at least a course in abstract algebra.

If you are interested in doing some research, either for pleasure or as a course, please write me or come talk to me. We can discuss all of your options and I can better explain what research in an undergraduate setting is all about.

Published Student Papers

  • James Checco ’10, Rachel Darling ’11, Stephen Longfield ’10, Katherine Wisdom ’10, On the fixed points of abelian group automorphisms, Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Journal 11 (2) (2010).
  • Daniel Endean, Kristin Henry, and Erin Manlove, Zero-divisor graphs of Zn and polynomial quotient rings over Zn, Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Journal 8 (2) (2007).
  • Stephanie Libera and Paul Tlucek, Perfect order subset groups, Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, 11 (2003), 495-498.  This paper won the 3rd place Richard V. Andree Award.
  • Eric Wilbur, Topspin: Solvability of sliding number games, Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Journal, 2 (2) (2001).
  • Mark Schulte, Automorphisms of metacyclic p-groups with cyclic maximal subgroups, Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Journal, 2 (2), (2001).
  • Mark Afdahl, Gretchen Christianson, Jill Dietz, Alfred Furth, Kirsten Knudson, and Sarah Volkenant, The probability that two elements in an extra-special p-group commute, Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, 11 (2001), 169–173.
  • Nitish Dass, Jonathan McGrath, and Erin Urbanski, The determinant of a (m; n) pretzel, Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, 11 (2000), 135–137. This paper won a 2000 Richard V. Andree Award.

List of Student Research Papers

  1. Mark Afdahl ’98, Gretchen Christianso ’98, Alfred Furth ’98, Kirsten Knudson ’98, and Sarah Volkenant ’98, The probability that two elements in an extraspecial p-group commute.
  2. Brett Aplin '04, Erik Lee '04, and Andrea Johnson '04, Automorphisms of central products.
  3. Jennifer Beilfuss ’01, Julie Beilfuss ’01, Liv Anda Knatterud ’01, and Tim Laffredi ’01, Hamiltonian circuits in Cayley graphs of finite group.,
  4. Julie Beilfuss, Benjamin French, Eric Johnson, Liv Anda Knatterud, Determinants of n-linked knots.
  5. Jill Bierbrauer ’98 and Jessie Ellwein ’98, Weird dice.
  6. David Bode ’99 and Brian Grivna ’98, Wild and crazy orbits.
  7. Kathy Bohlman ’01, Sarah Cherry ’01, David Croom ’00, Graph theory of D2n graphs.
  8. Chris Brav ’02 Automorphism groups of extra-special p-groups of order p3.
  9. Chris Brav ’02, John Farrell ’01, Grant Riewe ’01, The automorphism group of an extra-special p-group of order p3.
  10. Amy Brendel ’99, Mark Schulte ’99, Automorphisms of metacyclic 2-groups.
  11. Joshua Campbell '08, Christopher Evatt '10, and David McClure '08, Carry Groups.
  12. Joshua Campbell '08 and Thomas McConville '09, Binormalizers and Conjugacy Classes of Products.
  13. Joshua Chai ’01, John Farrell ’01, Rick Lassow ’01, Paul Pearson ’01, Automorphisms of finite groups.
  14. James Checco '10, Rachel Darling '11, Stephen Longfield '10, Katherine Wisdom '10, The Fixed Points of Group Automorphisms.
  15. Nathan Clement '10 and Vladimir Sotirov '12, Mutual lifts in semi-direct products.
  16. Nitish Dass ’01, Jonathan McGrath ’01, and Erin Urbanski ’00, The determinant of a (m; n) pretzel.
  17. Kelly Dolan '07, Tyson Gern '08, and Lincoln James '10, The Probability that Two Elements in a Group Commute.
  18. Katie Durham ’01, Ben French ’01, Vicky Schultz ’01, What is the probability of an automorphism fixing a group element?
  19. Kevin Evans ’99, Barbie Gregory ’99, Sarah Kueffer ’99, and Mark Schulte ’99, Group labeling of knots.
  20. Erika Franklin ’00, H. Jay Picconatto ’00, Sarah Wisneski ’01, ErikWammer ’00, Cayley graphs of odd order.
  21. Tyson Gern '08, Bethany Johnson '07, and Trese Overacker '07, Prime Factorization and Factor Rings of Eisenstein Integers.
  22. Karin Gilje ’08 and Philip Gipson ’09, Automorphisms of direct products of groups. 
  23. Barbie Gregory ’99, Kevin Evans ’99, Sarah Kueffer ’99, and Mark Schulte ’99, Group labeling of knots
  24. Jason Grimm ’03, Orbits of group endomorphisms.
  25. Aaron Gunderson '10, Cathryn Holm '11, Nathan Meyer '11, and Valerie Wilkinson '10, Exploration in Orbits for Finite Groups.
  26. Scott Harris '04 and Nicholas Maryns '04, A few results concerning automorphism groups of semidirect products.
  27. Elizabeth Johnson '06, Pokie Speare '05, and Heather Wiste '05, Frattini Subgroups.
  28. Jamie Kirkpatrick ’99 and Eric Wilbur ’00, On sliding number games.
  29. Daniel Kohler ’09, Automorphisms of some general metacyclic groups.
  30. Rick Lassow ’01, John McBride ’01, Paul Pearson ’01, Integrals of groups.
  31. Billy Laxen '07 and Jake Mahler '07, Lifts in Automorphism Groups.
  32. Noah Loome '05, Will Mitchell '06, and Elizabeth White '05, Automorphisms of semi-direct products.
  33. Erin Manlove '07, Matthew Moynihan '07, and Gregory Wolken '07, Fibonacci Lengths for Direct Products.
  34. H. Jay Picconatto ’00, Comparing the dynamics of f and f'.
  35. Reid Price '07, Perfect Order Subset Groups within the Symmetric Group
  36. Jason Saccomano '05, Automorphisms of semi-direct products.
  37. Jason Saccomano ’05, Automorphic Cycles.
  38. Mark Schulte ’01, Automorphisms of metacyclic p-groups with cyclic maximal subgroups.
  39. Niels Sveum ’01, Leslie Taylor ’01, Ryan Thomas ’01, The probability that two elements in a metacyclic p-group commute.
  40. Eric Wilbur ’00, Topspin: Solvability of sliding number games.




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