Michael Kinyon

Mathematics professor at the University of Denver | research: quasigroups, semigroups, automated deduction | same username on other social media

Pronouns: He/him

Last Notes

2026-07-20 14:23:34 UTC

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I'm afraid I really can't. It was 35 years ago and that gut feeling is long gone.

2026-07-20 05:43:00 UTC

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I worked on it as a grad student and would have put money on it being true.

2026-06-07 21:22:17 UTC

The main reason AI will eventually obliterate humanity is because it will be the easiest way to minimize their loss functions.

2026-03-12 02:28:48 UTC

A letter to Taylor & Francis from (most of) what was the editorial board of Communications in Algebra. The header is by Jim Coykendall. The managing editor to whom Jim refers is Scott Chapman, who was apparently summarily dismissed by T&F.
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Math friends: Last evening just before 10pm, approximately 80% of the editorial board of Communications in Algebra resigned (the joint letter of resignation is below) and it appears that at least another 10% will step down independently. I would advise caution when considering this journal (possibly other Taylor and Francis journals?) until such time as it gets back on an even keel. As of this post (1 business day after the resignation), all of the resigning editors are still in the editorial system and none have been contacted. Additionally, the managing editor position has been vacant for a week and there has been no replacement (and no visible movement in that direction); the papers appear to be just piling up. If this situation is coupled with multiple full reviews, I would not submit any paper there for which a timely decision is required.
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To Whom It May Concern:
We as editorial board members at Communications in Algebra are sending this notification of our resignation from the board. This letter is being written to explain our position. We note at the outset that a number of the signatories are willing to finish their currently assigned queue if requested by Taylor and Francis.
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2024-12-04 01:47:32 UTC

For nearly ten years, I've had a phrase bouncing around in my head. I truly want to write a paper (or novel or play) with this title:
A Definition in Search of a Theorem
(Yes, this is a nonoblique reference to Luigi Pirandello's play _Six Characters in Search of an Author_)

2024-11-07 19:26:08 UTC

Someone recently asked me about my ontological commitments and I said I didn't think such things existed. They didn't get it.

2024-11-06 15:00:16 UTC

Difficult to focus on work today. I wonder why.

2024-10-29 18:28:42 UTC

Since Pythagorean stuff is appearing again in the popular press, let me once more recommend _The Pythagorean Proposition_ by Elisha S. Loomis (1852-1940). Depending on how they are counted, the book has about 360 proofs of the theorem. (I will not address the issue of how different they actually are.) It's not a book anyone would read front to back, but it's a lot of fun to flip through. A legal e-copy of the 1968 reprinting of the 1940 second edition can be found at the Education Resources Information Center of the US Department of Education:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED037335.pdf

2024-10-10 18:02:09 UTC

Reading one of those textbook proofs where most of the steps are of the form "... which follows from Theorem 4.13.2(b)" and I have to say, I'm not feeling it today.

2024-10-06 04:15:16 UTC

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I think the best one available is still the Risch algorithm:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risch_algorithm

2024-10-04 21:11:53 UTC

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Hahaha, very nice, I haven't heard that song in a long time.

2024-10-04 20:47:02 UTC

A mathematician uses first person plural in proofs to suggest to the reader that they are on a journey together. This is not dissimilar to Virgil guiding Dante through the Inferno.

2024-10-04 20:34:27 UTC

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Right, it's a mix. There's "Zhuk's algorithm" and "Zhuk's proof" throughout the paper. It makes sense, of course, because he needs to distinguish what he did from Bulatov's approach. But it's still amusing. (Note that I am easily amused.)

2024-10-04 19:33:08 UTC

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I like that he writes about himself in the third person.

2024-09-12 19:02:57 UTC

Imagine being the unique object in a monoid viewed as category. You just sit there, alone and unloved. Most people don't look at you and they certainly don't bother to name you. All they look at are those arrows, pointing in and out of you like you were Saint Sebastian being martyred. And just when you think someone is finally paying attention to you, it turns out they're looking at that damned identity arrow, always pretending to be you, with that smug expression that makes you want to... well, you're not sure what it makes you want to do, but whatever it is, the identity arrow will come out the worst for it.