Marcos Zyman
Professor
Mathematics
EMAIL: mzyman@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-599H
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 776-6497
BMCC Professor Marcos Zyman holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He has been a faculty member at BMCC since Fall 2007.
Before joining the Mathematics Department at BMCC, Professor Zyman taught at The City College of New York and Bronx Community College. He is interested in Group Theory in general. In particular, he studies nilpotent, solvable and exponential groups, as well as endomorphism rings of abelian p-groups. More recently he has been working with lattices of finite groups, including the Chermak-Delgado lattice of finite Heisenberg groups. He is also involved in a project that deals with linear representations of polycyclic-by-finite matrix groups.
With his colleagues, Professors David Allen and Margaret H. Dean, Professor Zyman co-founded the BMCC Math Colloquium, a research seminar series that featured BMCC and CUNY math faculty, as well as invited speakers from other universities.
Professor Zyman, along with CUNY professors Anthony Clement and Stephen Majewicz, co-authored a major monograph entitled The Theory of Nilpotent Groups, published by Springer in 2017. Over the last few years, this monograph has become an established reference for researchers and students within the mathematical community.
Expertise
Group Theory
Degrees
- B.S. National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mathematics, 1999
- M.S. New York University, Mathematics, 2001
- Ph.D. The City University of New York, Mathematics, 2007
Courses Taught
- This course is a combination of arithmetic and elementary algebra. It includes the arithmetic of integers, fractions, decimals, and percent. In addition, such topics as signed numbers, algebraic representation, operations with polynomials, factoring, the solution of simultaneous linear equations of two variables, and graphing are covered.
Students who passed MAT 12, MAT 14, MAT 41, MAT 51, MAT 56, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 56.5, MAT 150.5 cannot take MAT 161.5.
Course Syllabus - This course is the first algebra course offered at the College. It includes such topics as algebraic representation, signed numbers, operations with polynomials, factoring, the solution of linear equations, the coordinate system, the solution of simultaneous linear equations of two variables, and graphing. This course is designed to prepare students for the CUNY Freshman Skills Assessment Test required for transfer to the upper division of CUNY, as well as for more advanced math courses. If a student passes MAT 12, the student should not register for MAT 51, since MAT 12 combines MAT 8 and MAT 51.
Students who passed MAT 12, MAT 14, MAT 41, MAT 51, MAT 56, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 56.5, MAT 150.5 cannot take MAT 161.5.
Course Syllabus - This course is the second algebra course offered at the college. It is open to students who have completed elementary algebra or its equivalent. It includes such topics as: factoring, solutions of linear and quadratic equations, trigonometric relationships, exponents, logarithms, and the graphs of quadratic equations.
Students who passed MAT 12, MAT 14, MAT 41, MAT 51, MAT 56, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 56.5, MAT 150.5 cannot take MAT 161.5.
Course Syllabus - This course includes the study of several mathematical systems. The role of mathematics in modern culture, the role of postulational thinking in all of mathematics, and the scientific method are discussed. The course considers topics such as: the nature of axioms, truth and validity; the concept of number; the concept of set; scales of notation; and groups and fields.
Prerequisites: MAT 12, MAT 14, MAT 41, MAT 51 or MAT 161.5
Course Syllabus - This course covers basic statistics, including: measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, graphs, correlation, the regression line, confidence intervals, the significance of differences, and hypothesis testing, including z-tests, t-tests, and chi-square tests.
Prerequisites: MAT 12, MAT 14, MAT 41, MAT 51 or MAT 161.5
Course Syllabus - The course aims to teach students how to think competently about quantitative information. Students learn how to take real world problems, translate them into mathematics, and solve them. Topics include thinking critically, numbers in the real world, financial management, statistical reasoning, probability, and mathematical modeling.
Students who passed MAT 12, MAT 14, MAT 41, MAT 51, MAT 56, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 56.5, MAT 150.5 cannot take MAT 161.5.
Course Syllabus - This course covers basic algebraic and trigonometric skills, algebraic equations, and functions. Topics include: mathematical induction, complex numbers, and the binomial theorem.
Prerequisite: MAT 157 or MAT 157.5
Course Syllabus - This is an integrated course in analytic geometry and calculus, applied to functions of a single variable. It covers a study of rectangular coordinates in the plane, equations of conic sections, functions, limits, continuity, related rates, differentiation of algebraic and transcendental functions, Rolle's Theorem, the Mean Value Theorem, maxima and minima, and integration.
Prerequisite: MAT 206 or MAT 206.5
Course Syllabus - This is the third course of a three-semester integrated study of analytic geometry and the concepts of differential and integral calculus. In this course the student is introduced to multivariable functions, with derivatives and integrals, and their applications. Topics include limits, derivatives (partial and directional), the gradient, double and triple integrals, alternate coordinate systems and derivatives and integrals in those coordinates, vector fields and their operators, the Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals, Green’s Theorem, and applications. MAT 303 has a computer laboratory component. Students utilize computer software such as graphing packages, a computer algebra system, and a mathematical word processor to complete laboratory assignments associated with their calculus course.
Prerequisite: MAT 302
Course Syllabus - This course is designed to prepare students for an advanced mathematics curriculum by providing a transition from Calculus to abstract mathematics. The course explores the logical and foundational structures of mathematics, with an emphasis on understanding and writing proofs. Topics include logic, methods of proof, mathematical induction, axiomatic approach to group theory, number theory, set theory, relations and functions, Cantora??s theory of countability, and the development of the real number system. Throughout the course, students will be actively engaged in understanding, verifying and writing proofs, and will be introduced to methods of mathematics research.
Corequisite: MAT 302
Course Syllabus - This course covers matrices, determinants, systems of linear equations, vector spaces, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, Boolean algebra, switching circuits, Boolean functions, minimal forms, Karnaugh maps.
Prerequisite: MAT 302, or permission of the department
Course Syllabus - This course covers the standard material comprising an introduction to group and ring theory: set theory and mappings; groups, normal subgroups, and quotient groups; Sylow's Theorem; rings, ideals, and quotient rings, Euclidean rings, polynomial rings.
Corequisite: MAT 315
Course Syllabus
Research and Projects
- Linear representations of polycyclic-by-finite groups
- Endomorphism rings of abelian p-groups
- Separability in exponential groups
- The Chermak-Delgado lattice of finite Heisenberg groups
Publications
Papers and books
Errata for The Theory of Nilpotent Groups
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- PSC-CUNY Grant (2008)
Finitely Generated Solvable Groups - PSC-CUNY Grant (2009)
Localization of nilpotent R-powered groups - BMCC Faculty Development Research Award (2009)
IA-Automorphisms of finitely generated solvable groups (with Prof. M. H. Dean) - Visiting Researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mathematics Institute (June of 2009)
- PSC-CUNY Grant (2010)
Towers of IA-automorphisms - PSC-CUNY Grant (2011)
Homomorphisms of general linear groups - PSC-CUNY Grant (2012)
Automorphisms of wreath products - Fellowship Leave (sabbatical) at Stevens Institute of Technology, Department of Mathematical Sciences (2015-2016)
- Fellowship Leave (sabbatical) at the CUNY Graduate Center, PhD Program in Mathematics (2023-2024)
