χle Ormsby
@motivickyle.bsky.social
Numbers and shapes at Reed College. Mathematician, parent, spouse, runner, 𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔨𝔱𝔲𝔯 enthusiast. He or they.
Bet you wish your neighborhood pizza joint held the Guinness World Record for most distinct cheeses on a pizza.
November 19, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Bet you wish your neighborhood pizza joint held the Guinness World Record for most distinct cheeses on a pizza.
I have a new nemesis. Its name is Curriculog.
November 18, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I have a new nemesis. Its name is Curriculog.
Every day I learn more, and every day I am more convinced my knowledge constitutes a set of measure zero.
November 18, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Every day I learn more, and every day I am more convinced my knowledge constitutes a set of measure zero.
Here's a fun theorem I (no doubt re-) discovered while working on a visualization project:
Let Σ ⊆ ℝ³ be an embedded closed compact surface and let X be a nonvanishing smooth vector field on ℝ³. If Σ is not a torus, then there exists a point p on Σ with normal direction parallel to X(p). 🧮
Let Σ ⊆ ℝ³ be an embedded closed compact surface and let X be a nonvanishing smooth vector field on ℝ³. If Σ is not a torus, then there exists a point p on Σ with normal direction parallel to X(p). 🧮
November 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Here's a fun theorem I (no doubt re-) discovered while working on a visualization project:
Let Σ ⊆ ℝ³ be an embedded closed compact surface and let X be a nonvanishing smooth vector field on ℝ³. If Σ is not a torus, then there exists a point p on Σ with normal direction parallel to X(p). 🧮
Let Σ ⊆ ℝ³ be an embedded closed compact surface and let X be a nonvanishing smooth vector field on ℝ³. If Σ is not a torus, then there exists a point p on Σ with normal direction parallel to X(p). 🧮
I don’t think Americans have felt enough shame about not attending this year’s COP.
November 18, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I don’t think Americans have felt enough shame about not attending this year’s COP.
Some links generated by taking the Markov trace of random words in the braid group 🧮
November 18, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Some links generated by taking the Markov trace of random words in the braid group 🧮
The soda can is one of the few objects that gets to begin and end its useful lifetime with opposites: the vending machine and the bottle return.
November 17, 2025 at 1:00 AM
The soda can is one of the few objects that gets to begin and end its useful lifetime with opposites: the vending machine and the bottle return.
Sure would be nice if the student paper didn’t misrepresent the faculty meeting discussion of the project my committee has been working on for the past year…
November 16, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Sure would be nice if the student paper didn’t misrepresent the faculty meeting discussion of the project my committee has been working on for the past year…
Reposted by χle Ormsby
Nice reference on using LaTeX as a mathematician: github.com/nchopin/best...
November 15, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Nice reference on using LaTeX as a mathematician: github.com/nchopin/best...
Wonderful-if-slightly-cursed theorem: the order of the spherical braid group on n strands (that is, the fundamental group of the unordered configuration space of n points on the 2-sphere) for n=1,2,3,4,5,6,... is 1, 2, 12, ∞, ∞, ∞, ....
November 15, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Wonderful-if-slightly-cursed theorem: the order of the spherical braid group on n strands (that is, the fundamental group of the unordered configuration space of n points on the 2-sphere) for n=1,2,3,4,5,6,... is 1, 2, 12, ∞, ∞, ∞, ....
CRISPR’ing stem cells so the fleshy substance in this tin renewably generates toilet paper as long as I feed it once a month.
November 15, 2025 at 12:52 AM
CRISPR’ing stem cells so the fleshy substance in this tin renewably generates toilet paper as long as I feed it once a month.
Happening tomorrow! My sessions are 11:30-12:30 and 1-2 (same activities both times). Register at www.reed.edu/academics/sp....
November 14, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Happening tomorrow! My sessions are 11:30-12:30 and 1-2 (same activities both times). Register at www.reed.edu/academics/sp....
A unitary executive implies the existence of orthogonal, symplectic, and general linear executives.
November 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM
A unitary executive implies the existence of orthogonal, symplectic, and general linear executives.
Why — WHY?! — after 230 years living with this document, has no American entrepreneur started an insurance agency called Domestic Tranquility?
November 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Why — WHY?! — after 230 years living with this document, has no American entrepreneur started an insurance agency called Domestic Tranquility?
I'm leading the session "Braids and Knots in Mathematics" at Reed's Open Days science outreach event this Saturday November 15. The event is free and open to all (registration and waiver required). If you're based near Portland, I'd love to see you there! www.reed.edu/academics/sp...
November 14, 2025 at 3:40 AM
I'm leading the session "Braids and Knots in Mathematics" at Reed's Open Days science outreach event this Saturday November 15. The event is free and open to all (registration and waiver required). If you're based near Portland, I'd love to see you there! www.reed.edu/academics/sp...
Reposted by χle Ormsby
Curved circular creases of annuli. A construction by Erik and Martin Demaine (all rights reserved). Several annuli intertwined.
#MathSky #MathArt #Geometry #Origami
More examples: erikdemaine.org/curved/)
#MathSky #MathArt #Geometry #Origami
More examples: erikdemaine.org/curved/)
November 14, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Curved circular creases of annuli. A construction by Erik and Martin Demaine (all rights reserved). Several annuli intertwined.
#MathSky #MathArt #Geometry #Origami
More examples: erikdemaine.org/curved/)
#MathSky #MathArt #Geometry #Origami
More examples: erikdemaine.org/curved/)
Reposted by χle Ormsby
Daina Taimina, a Cornell University mathematician uses crochet to demonstrate Hyperbolic Geometry #womensart
November 13, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Daina Taimina, a Cornell University mathematician uses crochet to demonstrate Hyperbolic Geometry #womensart
Free video game idea: Guitar hero but there's not a single path, you're in a labyrinth and the music — haunting, hypnotic music — changes depending on the paths you choose.
November 13, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Free video game idea: Guitar hero but there's not a single path, you're in a labyrinth and the music — haunting, hypnotic music — changes depending on the paths you choose.
Upon further reflection, I can see why no one talks about the hairy donut theorem. 🧮
November 13, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Upon further reflection, I can see why no one talks about the hairy donut theorem. 🧮
The audience for this joke consists of about thirty people worldwide, but they would all attest that it's very funny.
Ungrading is when you forget a 𝔾ₘ-action.
November 13, 2025 at 12:31 AM
The audience for this joke consists of about thirty people worldwide, but they would all attest that it's very funny.
Ungrading is when you forget a 𝔾ₘ-action.
November 12, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Ungrading is when you forget a 𝔾ₘ-action.
Can anyone recommend especially good recordings of Erik Satie's Trois Gnossiennes? I have decided to live inside of them instead of reality.
November 12, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Can anyone recommend especially good recordings of Erik Satie's Trois Gnossiennes? I have decided to live inside of them instead of reality.
Junior Colleague: When did you start working at Reed?
Me: Back in 2014.
JC: Oh, that's when I graduated from high school!
[A light breeze brushes my skin and my desiccated corpse collapses into a pile of ashes.]
Me: Back in 2014.
JC: Oh, that's when I graduated from high school!
[A light breeze brushes my skin and my desiccated corpse collapses into a pile of ashes.]
November 12, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Junior Colleague: When did you start working at Reed?
Me: Back in 2014.
JC: Oh, that's when I graduated from high school!
[A light breeze brushes my skin and my desiccated corpse collapses into a pile of ashes.]
Me: Back in 2014.
JC: Oh, that's when I graduated from high school!
[A light breeze brushes my skin and my desiccated corpse collapses into a pile of ashes.]
What if Doctor Frankenstein was the real monster all along? 🤔
November 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM
What if Doctor Frankenstein was the real monster all along? 🤔