Bryce Christopherson CV
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Where does structure come from?

I’m Bryce A. Christopherson, a mathematician working in Ramsey theory, nonlinear control, and sparse neural networks—three settings shaped by questions of structure, thresholds, and stability.

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Assistant Professor of MathematicsUniversity of North Dakota

Research directions

Three settings, three kinds of structural question.

My research spans combinatorics, nonlinear control, and sparse machine learning. Across these areas, I ask what states or structures mathematical objects are drawn toward, and how or why these attractors emerge—whether as the stable state of a dynamical system, a forced substructure in a large object, or a likely substructure in a growing random object.

01

Discrete structure

Ramsey theory · thresholds

I study when sufficiently large unorganized objects are forced to contain ordered substructure, and when growing random objects acquire such structure with high probability.

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02

Nonlinear dynamics

Feedback · stabilization

I investigate when nonlinear systems can be stabilized, and what topological or quantitative obstructions prevent feedback from working.

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03

Sparse learning

Neural networks · lottery tickets

I develop methods for finding useful sparse subnetworks and study why capable structure emerges inside overparameterized models.

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Selected publications

Recent research

Current work on threshold phenomena, nonlinear feedback stabilization, and sparse neural networks.

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Teaching & mentoring

Learning should build the courage to think.

I want students to leave a mathematics course able to do more than recall information: to ask better questions, persist through failed attempts, and work their way toward genuine understanding.

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Fall 2026

Current courses
MATH 330Fall 2026

Proof, Set Theory, and Logic

Reading, writing, and critiquing mathematical arguments through logic, set theory, relations, functions, and proof techniques, offered in separate on-campus and online sections.

MATH 515Fall 2026

Applied Mathematics: Nonlinear Dynamics

A graduate course in nonlinear dynamics, phase portraits, bifurcations, and chaos.

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04

Graduate advising · Undergraduate research

Have a problem worth thinking about?

I advise graduate students and maintain an active undergraduate research group, with projects connecting theory, computation, and real systems.

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Academic record

Research, teaching, and departmental work.

ResearchPublications & students

Full publication record, current projects, and research-group members.

ServiceUniversity & department

Committee leadership, faculty searches, assessment, and student support.

PresentationsTalks since 2014

Research seminars, professional meetings, colloquia, and invited talks.

About

Bryce A. Christopherson

Bryce A. Christopherson

Assistant Professor of Mathematics

University of North Dakota

I work across pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and computation.

My research includes feedback stabilization and its topological obstructions, Ramsey theory and probabilistic thresholds, and the extraction of sparse subnetworks from neural networks. I use both theoretical and computational methods, often in collaboration with students.

2019
PhD, MathematicsUniversity of Wyoming
2017
MS, MathematicsUniversity of Wyoming
2015
BA, Mathematics & EconomicsAugustana University

Find me elsewhere

Google Scholar arXiv ORCID UND profile