Kathleen Grace Kennedy

Welcome to Grace Kennedy's homepage.

This is me in 2007 in the Botanical Gardens in Madrid.

Education:
The University of the South
Sewanee, TN
BS in Mathematics and French Literature

Université de Picardie
Amiens, France
Masters (M1, M2) in Algebra, Number Theory and Applications

University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Masters in Mathematics
PhD Candidate and seeking the Certificate in College Undergraduate Teaching (CCUT)

Cardiff University
Cardiff, Wales
January 2011 - May 2011
Marie Curie Early Stage Research Internship in Non Commutative Geometry

Mathematical Interests and Research: My initial interest started with the braid group and has grown to include other areas of geometric group theory and algebraic topology such as Coxeter Groups, Hecke Algebras, and Temperley-Lieb algebras. While in Amiens, Dr. Digne directed my Masters 1 and 2 papers in these topics.

Here is my Masters 1 paper on Sergiescu's 1993 paper on presentations of the braid group: M1 Paper.
Here is my Masters 2 paper on Tammo tom Dieck's 1998 paper on Temperley-Lieb algebras associated to the root system D: M2 Paper.

More recently, I have been interested in planar algebras. Specifically, I have been working on a multivariable version of a method of calculating the Multivariable Alexander Polynomial of a knot or link by sending knots and links into a specific planar algebra. This has the advantage of generalizing to a multivariable tangle invariant.

Published papers and a Preprint:

• A Diagrammatic Description of the Multivariate Alexander Polynomial. In preparation. Here is a Mathematica notebook with some of the calculations, or if you prefer a pdf version.
• An Optimization Problem with a Surprisingly Simple Solution. American Mathematical Monthly. April 2009, Vol. 116, Number 4. D. Drinen, K. G. Kennedy, W. M. Priestley.
• Elastic Properties and Prime Elements. Results in Mathematics. Dec. 2006, Vol.49, Numbers 3-4. Paul Baginski, Christopher Crutchfield, K. Grace Kennedy, and Matthew Wright.
  Here is the SpringerLink to our Paper.
• Electrochemistry of Ferrocene-Modified Monolayer-Protected Gold Nanoclusters at Reduced Temperatures. Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research. 2004, 4, 145-150, K. Grace Kennedy, Deon T. Miles (Sewanee: The University of the South).

I also co-organize the Hypatian Seminar with several other graduate students in the department.

Conference's I've attended and Talks I have given :

• Annual Homecoming Lecture in the Mathematics Department , Sewanee Tennessee, November 4, 2011. Presented Talk entitled “Distinguishing Knots: Math with Pictures.”
• Women in Mathematics Day, London, England, May 6, 2011.
• Representations of Braid and Symmetric Groups: New Approaches, WIMCS Mathematical Physics Cluster Workshop, Aberystwyth, Wales, May 2-3, 2011. Presented a talk entitled “A new algorithm for the multivariable Alexander polynomial of a link.”
• EU-NCG 4th Annual Meeting in Bucharest, Romania, April 25-39, 2011. Presented a talk entitled “A new algorithm for the multivariable Alexander polynomial of a link.”
• Bialgebras in Free Probability at the Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics in Vienna, Austria, February 13-17, 2011. Attended conference.
• Skiing and Subfactors Conference at Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, CA, February 14- 20, 2010. Attended talks on planar algebras, principle graphs, and subfactors.
• Joint Meetings of AMS and MAA, San Antonio, TX, January 12-15 2006. Presented a poster from our Trinity research entitled “Factorization and Elasticity with Applications to Rings of the form K[x;S] and K[[x;S]],” at the Undergraduate Student Poster Session.
• Young Mathematics Conference, Columbus, OH, August 12-14, 2005. Presented a talk entitled “Factorization and Delta Sets in K[x;S],” on our research at Trinity.
• The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, May 16-27, 2005. Attended the Program for Women in Mathematics themed “The Geometry of Groups.”

Teaching Experience and Current Courses

Private Tutoring: I also offer private tutoring services. Please contact me via email if you are interested (kgracekennedy@math.ucsb.edu).

Wondering how to process a salmon? Check out my unfinished webpage for how.