Hi, my name is Kairi Black (formerly Kyrie Johnson).
I am a fifth-year PhD student at Duke University, advised by Samit Dasgupta. I completed my undergraduate at the University of Utah.
From Fall 2022 through Spring 2024, I co-organised (with Rena Chu) a graduate student learning seminar at Duke. The seminar continues under different organization; for details, see the seminar webpage.
When I'm not doing math, I enjoy rock climbing, reading, and sewing.
I'm broadly interested in algebraic and analytic number theory with a view toward
The best way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics. So I don't just present concepts to students; I work to build each student's confidence in their personal problem-solving ability. That self-confidence inspires them to continue working on difficult exercises as well as independently seek out math which interests them. Similarly, students are more successful when they have role models with whom they can identify. So in my classes I highlight the accomplishments of diverse mathematicians, use language which makes no assumptions about the look or level of a mathematician, and think critically about how my identity informs my mathematical life. Courses whose instruction I have participated in are tabulated below.
Organization | My Role | Course | Term | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Duke University | Course Instructor | Math 112L: Calculus II | Fall 2023 | Course syllabus |
Duke University | Course Instructor | Math 106L: Calculus and Functions II | Fall 2022 | Course website |
Duke University | Lab Instructor | Math 106L: Calculus and Functions II | Spring 2022 | Course website |
Duke University | Lab Instructor | Math 111L: Calculus I | Fall 2021 | |
Duke University | Grader | Math 404: Mathematical Cryptography | Spring 2021 | |
Duke University | Grader | Math 305S: Number Theory Seminar | Fall 2020 | |
University of Utah | Teaching Assistant | Math 1220: Calculus II | Spring 2020 | Course website |
University of Utah | Help Lab Tutor | Math 3210/3220: Foundations of Analysis | Fall 2018 — Spring 2020 |
I aspire that my teaching is consistent with Federico Ardila's axioms in Todos Cuentan: Cultivating Diversity in Combinatorics, which together constitute a "pressing call to action" for math educators:
Mathematical talent is distributed equally among different groups, irrespective of geographic, demographic, and economic boundaries.
Everyone can have joyful, meaningful, and empowering mathematical experiences.
Mathematics is a powerful, malleable tool that can be shaped and used differently by various communities to serve their needs.
Every student deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Below are expository notes I wrote to organize my understanding at the time. I collect them here so others may find them useful.
The Circle Method for Algebraic Number Fields
pdf abstract
Motivation for the Étale Fundamental Group
pdf abstract
\(\ell\)-adic Galois Representations
pdf abstract
Modular Forms, Elliptic Curves, and their Connection to Fermat's Last Theorem
(Undergraduate Thesis)
pdf abstract
As an undergraduate, I wrote two other short articles about graph theory which I share here as resources for others: Constructing Graceful Graphs by Extending Paths from Graceful Graphs and Graph Theory and Matrices.
Lastly, for a completely general audience (no math background needed!), I've also written three articles on the mysterious "perfect numbers": A strange definition of perfect, Perfectly even, and Perfectly odd.