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Tien Chih

@tienchihmath

Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Oxford College of Emory University. Father & Husband. Wannabe Cook. I like to teach/do/spread math as I can. https://linopt.tienchih.org/ (He/His)

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Latest posts by Tien Chih @tienchihmath

Red commercial dumpster with redbox+ DUMPSTERS written on the side.

Red commercial dumpster with redbox+ DUMPSTERS written on the side.

The movies arenโ€™t very good but this is rather harsh.

11.03.2026 12:29 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This framing is nuts.

11.03.2026 09:45 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
How to get RICH using statistics #zelda #nintendo #gaming #skywardswordhd
How to get RICH using statistics #zelda #nintendo #gaming #skywardswordhd YouTube video by swaggmasta

#MathOfMario for Mar10 day (but it's Zelda)

youtube.com/shorts/CIbgU...

11.03.2026 03:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Cover art for Discover Calculus. The background shows a plane flying over water in an arc. Reflected in the water is the plane and its arc but also diverging curves, rippling in the water. In the background is a bridge and some lights. The sky is dark with shining stars, a crescent moon, and beautiful clouds. The whole picture is a warm grey/brown with black hatch shading and white highlights. 

Discover Calculus
Single-Variable Calculus Topics with Motivating Activities

Peter Keep

Cover art for Discover Calculus. The background shows a plane flying over water in an arc. Reflected in the water is the plane and its arc but also diverging curves, rippling in the water. In the background is a bridge and some lights. The sky is dark with shining stars, a crescent moon, and beautiful clouds. The whole picture is a warm grey/brown with black hatch shading and white highlights. Discover Calculus Single-Variable Calculus Topics with Motivating Activities Peter Keep

It's here! @acidlich.bsky.social created this beautiful cover art, perfect as a representation of the book. While students will mostly be interacting with the book digitally, I'm very excited for the printed copies that we'll be making to give to students as well!
#MathSky ๐Ÿงฎ

10.03.2026 16:31 ๐Ÿ‘ 49 ๐Ÿ” 10 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
REED COLLEGE
M A T H E M A TICS & ST A TISTICS COL LO Q UIU M
Braids and Combinatorics
THURSDAY, MARCH 12TH, 2026
SNACKS AT 3:15PM -
TALK BEGINS AT 3:40PM
ELIOT 314
CRAIG WESTERLAND
University of Minnesota
Combinatorics is, in principle, the subject devoted
to counting certain kinds of mathematical objects.
Several objects appear regularly in this story:
subsets, partitions, permutations, and the like. Iโ€™ll
begin with an introduction to these objects and
how combinatorialists count them. With that in
hand, Iโ€™ll discuss โ€œbraidedโ€ analogues of these
constructions โ€” these have a much more
geometric flavor, but still retain some of the
original combinatorial aspects. This allows us to
upgrade the familiar notions of finite sets and
functions between them to a world of braided sets
and functions.

REED COLLEGE M A T H E M A TICS & ST A TISTICS COL LO Q UIU M Braids and Combinatorics THURSDAY, MARCH 12TH, 2026 SNACKS AT 3:15PM - TALK BEGINS AT 3:40PM ELIOT 314 CRAIG WESTERLAND University of Minnesota Combinatorics is, in principle, the subject devoted to counting certain kinds of mathematical objects. Several objects appear regularly in this story: subsets, partitions, permutations, and the like. Iโ€™ll begin with an introduction to these objects and how combinatorialists count them. With that in hand, Iโ€™ll discuss โ€œbraidedโ€ analogues of these constructions โ€” these have a much more geometric flavor, but still retain some of the original combinatorial aspects. This allows us to upgrade the familiar notions of finite sets and functions between them to a world of braided sets and functions.

This week's math colloquium talk at Reed features my academic sibling, Craig Westerland, speaking about Braids and Combinatorics! ๐Ÿงฎ

09.03.2026 15:48 ๐Ÿ‘ 12 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Cut ribs

Cut ribs

Brown sugar, black vinegar, shoyu, xiaoxing wine.

Brown sugar, black vinegar, shoyu, xiaoxing wine.

Ribs in wok with garlic ginger and green onions

Ribs in wok with garlic ginger and green onions

Sauced ribs in wok.

Sauced ribs in wok.

1-2-3-4-5 ribs.

09.03.2026 01:57 ๐Ÿ‘ 11 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
My linocut shows a young Olga Ladyzhenskaya in profile, from the shoulders up in a gradient of navy blue at the bottom to pale burgundy at the top on cream coloured washi paper. Sheโ€™s wearing a shirt and jacket with her hair up. Sheโ€™s facing some text, carved in reverse, with some words in Russian and mathematics. The text explains this is the system of Navier-Stokes equation, initial and boundary conditions. Below her is a diagram of laminar flow eddying into turbulence. The text reads "ัะธัั‚ะตะผัƒ ัƒั€ะฐะฒะฝะตะฝะธะน ะะฐะฒัŒะต โ€” ะกั‚ะพะบัะฐ" which means 'a system of Navier-Stokes equations' and also "ะดะปั ั„ัƒะฝะบั†ะธะน" which means 'for functions' and "ะฟั€ะธ ะณั€ะฐะฝะธั‡ะฝั‹ั… ะธ ะฝะฐั‡ะฐะปัŒะฝั‹ั… ัƒัะปะพะฒะธัั…" which means 'under boundary and initial conditions'.

My linocut shows a young Olga Ladyzhenskaya in profile, from the shoulders up in a gradient of navy blue at the bottom to pale burgundy at the top on cream coloured washi paper. Sheโ€™s wearing a shirt and jacket with her hair up. Sheโ€™s facing some text, carved in reverse, with some words in Russian and mathematics. The text explains this is the system of Navier-Stokes equation, initial and boundary conditions. Below her is a diagram of laminar flow eddying into turbulence. The text reads "ัะธัั‚ะตะผัƒ ัƒั€ะฐะฒะฝะตะฝะธะน ะะฐะฒัŒะต โ€” ะกั‚ะพะบัะฐ" which means 'a system of Navier-Stokes equations' and also "ะดะปั ั„ัƒะฝะบั†ะธะน" which means 'for functions' and "ะฟั€ะธ ะณั€ะฐะฝะธั‡ะฝั‹ั… ะธ ะฝะฐั‡ะฐะปัŒะฝั‹ั… ัƒัะปะพะฒะธัั…" which means 'under boundary and initial conditions'.

Happy birthday to Olga Ladyzhenskaya (1922-2004), ๐Ÿงช๐Ÿก๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ”ฌ๐Ÿงฎ #histsci a #mathematician who overcame personal tragedy, faced Soviet totalitarianism & the catastrophic political upheaval of the 20th century to make a huge impact on the math, making important contributions to study of partial differential

07.03.2026 14:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 40 ๐Ÿ” 14 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Improved fractal Weyl bounds matching improved spectral gaps for hyperbolic surfaces and open quantum maps We prove a new fractal Weyl upper bound for the high-energy distribution of resonances of convex co-compact hyperbolic surfaces which matches the improved spectral gap given by Fourier decay. This imp...

Today, we send our congratulations to PMP mentee Travis Cunningham, who recently made available through arXiv his first solo paper. Travis is gearing up to apply to graduate school and has several papers coming up soon. Stay tuned!

Access: arxiv.org/abs/2602.20392

05.03.2026 22:57 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
The Shire-Reckoning (@shire_reckoning@mastodon.social) Thรฉoden answers Saruman. โ€˜Even if your war on me was justโ€”as it was not, for were you ten times as wise, you would have no right to rule me and mine for your own profit as you desiredโ€”even so, what w...

Over on Mathstodon, I follow an account that posts snippets from LOTR on the corresponding day. Today's was Theoden answering Saruman.

I guess Tolkien knew a thing or two about war ...

mastodon.social/@shire_recko...

05.03.2026 21:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Math history question: Is ฮณ:[0,1]โ†’X the notation for a path in a space X because

(1) ฮณ is the third Greek letter โ†” Roman c which stands for curve;

(2) orthographically, ฮณ โ€” especially when handwritten โ€” looks like a curve; or

(3) Cauchy chose it at random for a complex path integral and it stuck?

05.03.2026 14:15 ๐Ÿ‘ 19 ๐Ÿ” 5 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Record profits are unpaid wages.

In a just society, one 40-hour a week job should pay enough to support a nuclear family โ€” one brief stint as CEO should not pay so much it creates generation wealth and empowers the 1% to buy our elections.

#TaxTheBillionaires

03.03.2026 21:24 ๐Ÿ‘ 355 ๐Ÿ” 133 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
Preview
Opinion | The Nation Faces a Crisis. Colleges Have a Unique Role to Play.

โ€œWesleyan University and a network of hundreds of schools and allied organizations are uniting for Democracy Summer, a nationwide program to educate citizens and protect our elections in the coming year.โ€ โ€” @msroth.bsky.social in @nytimes.com #HigherEd #voting

04.03.2026 12:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 86 ๐Ÿ” 28 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
Linear Optimization

A pdf or html version may be found here: linopt.tienchih.org

A portion of the proceeds supports the Prison Math Project @prisonmathproject.bsky.social

01.03.2026 15:40 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Linear Optimization: A Geometric Inquiry Course "Linear Optimization: A Geometric Inquiry Course" is an inquiry based learning text for an undergraduate course in linear optimization.ย Taking a geometric vantage point to build intuition, students wo...

It's finally here! "Linear Optimization: A Geometric Inquiry Course" gives an inquiry based course in linear optimization supplemented by technology for intuition building. A great class for interests in either pure or applied math! Physical Copies now on sale: www.619wreath.com/store/p53/Li...

01.03.2026 15:40 ๐Ÿ‘ 26 ๐Ÿ” 12 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you John!

01.03.2026 17:42 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

If I have another child, I will name them โ€œThe Natural Number Zeroโ€.

This is a (vacuously) true statement.

01.03.2026 16:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Imagine being named after the subject you teach.

"Oh No! I'm late to Professor Prime Ideal's class!"

01.03.2026 16:26 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Linear Optimization

A pdf or html version may be found here: linopt.tienchih.org

A portion of the proceeds supports the Prison Math Project @prisonmathproject.bsky.social

01.03.2026 15:40 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Linear Optimization: A Geometric Inquiry Course "Linear Optimization: A Geometric Inquiry Course" is an inquiry based learning text for an undergraduate course in linear optimization.ย Taking a geometric vantage point to build intuition, students wo...

It's finally here! "Linear Optimization: A Geometric Inquiry Course" gives an inquiry based course in linear optimization supplemented by technology for intuition building. A great class for interests in either pure or applied math! Physical Copies now on sale: www.619wreath.com/store/p53/Li...

01.03.2026 15:40 ๐Ÿ‘ 26 ๐Ÿ” 12 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I thought he seemed familiar....

How is his linear algebra?

01.03.2026 14:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Highlighted bucktooth cartoon character used as end of proof synmbol.

Highlighted bucktooth cartoon character used as end of proof synmbol.

A sad end of proof cartoon symbol named Greg.

A sad end of proof cartoon symbol named Greg.

What is this end of proof symbol my students are using?

01.03.2026 13:56 ๐Ÿ‘ 17 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

โ€ฆstruggling with content, then letโ€™s address this instead of kicking the can down the road.

28.02.2026 21:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I started doing something similar for homework extensions. First time no questions. Second time, we need to meet to chat about why itโ€™s happening, and to see if there is some issue that needs to be addressed. Sometimes itโ€™s a one off thing thatโ€™s not likely to reoccur, but if theyโ€™re..:

28.02.2026 21:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Absolutely zero tolerance for the "Oh you aren't as cynical or depressed as me? You fool, you normie" kind of posting. That shit's not just toxic, it's dripping with jealousy and is deeply pathetic.

27.02.2026 16:21 ๐Ÿ‘ 730 ๐Ÿ” 92 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6 ๐Ÿ“Œ 9

Pizza Hut will always taste like literacy to me.

25.02.2026 16:03 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
An homage to Prof Monsur Kenku in honor of Black History Month #math #blackhistory
An homage to Prof Monsur Kenku in honor of Black History Month #math #blackhistory YouTube video by Alvaro Lozano-Robledo

A mathematician you may have never heard of (unless you are an arithmetic geometer like me) wrote some of the most influential papers of my own math career! This is an homage to Prof. Monsur Kenku, in honor of Black History Month

youtube.com/shorts/jRcVL...

25.02.2026 13:21 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

And NOW itโ€™s finally coming to an end.

25.02.2026 05:36 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Mya=inf({x:x is a good dog}).

24.02.2026 22:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you. I hope so.

24.02.2026 21:16 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Today sucked.

24.02.2026 21:05 ๐Ÿ‘ 14 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0