David Lantz


I study commutative algebra. Much of my work has been joint with Prof. William Heinzer of Purdue University. Together we have studied many kinds of rings (all commutative with unity) that are not quite Noetherian: Laskerian rings, Artinian rings, rings with the ascending chain condition on ideals generated by a fixed number of elements, rings with the ascending chain condition on colon ideals, etc. More recently we have focused on regular local domains (which of course are very Noetherian) and a class of ideals primary for the maximal ideal. We called this class "first coefficient ideals", because they are maximal among those having the same first two coefficients in the Hilbert polynomial. We frequently used the computer algebra system MACAULAY in our study of this class of ideals.

I have taught many of the mathematics courses offered at Colgate; my favorites are both semesters of abstract algebra (especially the second, on Galois theory), geometry and combinatorics. I have used a computer algebra system in several courses, especially in applied mathematics for the social sciences.

I should also mention two more elementary projects in which I have participated: I assisted in the translation of an approximate solution by Casanova (yes, that Casanova) on the Delian Problem ("Construct with straightedge and compass a cube with exactly twice the volume of a given cube"). And an exposition that I wrote for distribution to one of my classes, on why it is impossible to cut a cube into a finite number of polyhedral pieces and reassemble them into a regular tetrahedron, was later published in the South African recreational journal Wistukkie.

My wife Clara and I are very interested in drama, from both sides of the footlights.

Here is a link to the .pdf file of the transparencies I used for the Gehman lecture at the Mathematical Association of America Seaway Section meeting at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, on April 1-2, 2005.


Here are links to the web pages of some of the courses I've taught:

From the Math Dept's "junior" seminar (now replaced by Math 399):

I much enjoyed the play The Discovery of the Calculus: The Battle Between Wilhelm Leibniz and Isaac Newton, written by H. W. Straley, Charlene B. Straley, and F. A. "Chip" Straley, of Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, VA. To make the play more available, I have digitized the script and images provided by the Straleys (with their kind permission) and arranged them in several file formats. Here is the index to these files: The Discovery of the Calculus

Selected Publications:


David Lantz
Mathematics Department
Colgate University
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton NY 13346-1398
email: dlantz@mail.colgate.edu
phone: 315-228-7737
fax: 315-228-7004


http://math.colgate.edu/faculty/dlantz.html
Revised: July 9, 2008.
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