Chris Grossack (they/them)

Education

UC Riverside

Mathematics PhD Student (Ongoing) with Peter Samuelson

Carnegie Mellon University

B.S. in Discrete Math and Logic (May 2019)

• Honors in Computer Science
• Minor in Music

Papers and Preprints

• Descent for 2-Rigs, With Application to the Recognition of Linear Theories (in preparation)
• Life in Johnstone’s Topological Topos (in preparation)
• A Descent Theorem for Right Angled Artin Groups (Accepted to AGT. preprint)
• Extensions of Abelian Automata Groups (preprint)

Talks Outside Of Department

• Life in Johnstone’s Topological Topos (CT Octoberfest, 2024)
• Gluing is Hard: Skeins and Hall Algebras (Centre for Quantum Mathematics at Syddansk, 2024)
• What is Factorization Homology? (AMS Special Session, 2024)
• 2-Categorical Descent and (Essentially) Algebraic Theories (CT Octoberfest, 2023)
• The Univalence Axiom (University of Florida, 2021)
• Categories, Modalities, and Type Theories: Oh My! (HoTT Workshop, 2021)
• Syntax and Semantics (Trans Math Day, 2020)

Seminar Talks In Department

• Categories and Harmonic Analysis: Tannaka and Pontryagin Dualities (UCR, 2024)
• Introduction to Quantum Groups (UCR, 2024)
• Introduction to Symplectic Geometry (UCR, 2023)
• Introduction to $A_\infty$ Categories and the Fukaya Category (UCR, 2023)
• Introduction to $A_\infty$ Algebras (UCR, 2023)
• Let’s Solve A Simple Analysis Problem Together (applications of topos theory) (UCR, 2022)
• The Weil Conjectures (UCR, 2021)

Outreach

• BB2P Mentor (2024)

• Artistic Expression of Original Research participant (2024)
  • The Artistic Expression of Original Research art exhibition exemplifies the incredible work produced from blending the humanities and sciences. Graduate students translate science into art to communicate science in a new way and how it might be meaningful to our communities. Part of the national Being Human Festival, supported by the National Humanities Center, Center for Ideas and Society, and the Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts at UCR

• President of UCR AMS Chapter (2024)

• Category Theory Zulip Moderator (2024)

• Founding member of UCR Spectra Chapter (2023)

• Vice President of UCR AMS Chapter (2023)

• HoTTEST Summer School (TA and Unofficial Organizer, 2022)
  • Stated goal is “to make homotopy type theory accessible to, and inclusive of, everyone who is interested, regardless of cultural background, age, ability, formal education, ethnicity, gender identity, or expression.”

• SUBGroups (Group Leader and Mentor, 2022)

• SciComm@UCR (2021)
  • “A student organization working to communicate science in creative ways”
• Math/Music Event (Lead Organizer and Composer, 2020, cancelled due to covid)
  • An interdisciplinary event where composers with a math/computer science background would perform work relating to mathematics, and give a short talk on the mathematics that went into their piece.

• Academic Review Board and University Disciplinary Committee (Board Member, 2017-2019)

• Frequently in the top 0.1% of users on math.stackexchange

Teaching Experience

• Teaching Assistant At HoTTEST Summer 2022

• Primary Instructor (UCR)
  • Math-194: reading course on lawvere duality (Spring 2023)
  • Math-194: reading course on locales and category theory (Spring 2022)
• Co-Primary Instructor (CMU)
  • 98-317: Hype For Types (Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019)

Coursework

Research/Reading Experience

• HoTT Seminar (2023)
  • Homotopy Type Theory Learning Seminar at UCR, organized by me
• Fukaya Categories and Mirror Symmetry (2023)
  • Reading Group, co-organized by me and Catherine Cannizzo
• Morse Theory (2022)
  • Reading Course with Brian Collier
• Stacks and Moduli Spaces (2022)
  • Reading Course with Patricio Gallardo
• CAT(0) Cube Complexes (2021)
  • Reading Course with Matt Durham
• Right Angled Artin Groups (2020)
  • Advisor: Matt Durham
• Topological Combinatorics and Zero-Sum Ramsey Theory (2018-2019)
  • Advisor: Florian Frick
• Automata Groups (2018-2020)
  • Advisor: Klaus Sutner

Conferences Attended

• Symplectothon on Global Kuranishi Charts (Fall 2024)
• CT Octoberfext 2024 (Fall 2024)
• AMS Special Session: Category Theory and Homotopy Theory in Interaction (Spring 2024)
• Higher Segal Spaces and their Applications (Winter 2024)
• CT Octoberfest 2023 (Fall 2023)
• Representation Theory, Noncommutative Algebra, and Categorification (Summer 2023)
• CT2023 (Summer 2023)
• HoTT 2023 (Spring 2023)
• Workshop on Geoemtric Group Theory (Spring 2023)
• ASL Annual Meeting (Spring 2023)
• JMM (Winter 2023)
• BLAST (Summer 2022)
• HoTTEST Colloquia (Summer 2022)
• WAGS (Spring 2022)