Daniel Litt

Stanford University Mathematics Department

Building 380, Rm. 381-M

dalitt[AT]stanford.edu

dlitt[AT]math.stanford.edu

 

Expository Notes and Articles

 

     Fulton's Trace Formula, Notes for SAGS Talk, January 23, 2012:  An exposition of Fulton's trace formula in coherent cohomology, which counts the number of rational points on a projective variety over a finite field, mod p. The exposition follows Mustata and Fulton, but fills in some details.


     The Poincaré Lemma and de Rham Cohomology, The Harvard College Math Review, Vol 1. No. 2, Fall 2007:  An expository account of differential forms and the Poincaré Lemma using modern methods, aimed at beginning undergraduates.  Contains some minor errors and omissions (in the exterior power section), which I am attempting to get fixed in the online version.


     Introduction to Hodge-Type Structures, Harvard Undergraduate Senior Thesis, May 2010:  An expository account of some Hodge Theory, concluding with a sketchy description of modern approaches (e.g. mixed Hodge modules, etc.)


     Prime Reciprocals and Primes in Arithmetic Progression, Harvard Junior Paper, May 2009:  Gives some estimates on sums of prime reciprocals in certain residue classes; some of the arguments (e.g. the proofs of Propositions 5 and 6) are, to my knowledge, novel.


     Linear Independence over $Q$ and Topology, Note for MathOverflow, November 2010:  Answers a MathOverflow question relating the topology of certain Riemann surfaces to the linear independence of certain numbers.


     Line Bundles on Projective Space, written for Dennis Gaitsgory's 2009-2010 Theory of Schemes course at Harvard; gives two proofs that the group of line bundles on projective space over a field is generated by the canonical bundle, and is isomorphic to the additive group of integers.  That is, the only line bundles are those we know and love.


     The Hilbert Scheme of Points on a Surface, written for Dennis Gaitsgory's 2009-2010 Theory of Schemes course at Harvard; gives a very hands-off proof that the Hilbert scheme of points on a nice curve or surface is smooth and irreducible.


     A Categorical Construction of Ultrafilters, a short and extremely elementary paper written with Zachary Abel and Scott Kominers, and answering a question of E. Rosinger in the negative.  To be published in the Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics.


     Some brief notes:  A space for very short expository notes on varied subjects


 

Seminars

 

     Student Algebraic Geometry Schedule, 2012


Pictures


     Photos of Magnets, some constructions made from Zen Magnets


Non-Mathematical Writing


     "Draft Obituary, Winston Wallace 1922-2008, by Joanna Lansom," a short story I wrote in Summer 2008


     Ohio, a poem about Ohio


     The Moth at Knossos, another old poem I wrote as an exercise in mythology


     On "Old Futurism," a (mostly) silly exercise in writing a manifesto


Resumé


     My non-academic resumé