Bryce A. Christopherson
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Assistant Professor, Mathematics
- Ramsey theory, nonlinear control, and sparse neural networks
Contact Info
- Email: bryce.christopherson@UND.edu
- Office: 701.777.2881
Office Address
Mathematics
Witmer Hall Room 313
101 Cornell Street Stop 8376
Grand Forks, ND 58202-8376
Office Hours
Fall 2026: Monday and Wednesday, 11 a.m.–noon, and by appointment.
Biography
Bryce A. Christopherson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at the University of North Dakota. His work spans pure mathematics, applied mathematics and computation, with primary interests in Ramsey theory and probabilistic thresholds, nonlinear feedback stabilization, and sparse neural networks. Across these settings, he studies how organized structure emerges: when large discrete objects must contain regular substructures, when feedback can stabilize a nonlinear system, and how useful sparse subnetworks arise inside overparameterized models.
Christopherson uses theoretical and computational methods and frequently works with graduate and undergraduate researchers. Before joining UND in 2022, he worked at The Aerospace Corporation in mathematical modeling, data science and artificial intelligence. He earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in mathematics from the University of Wyoming and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Augustana University.
Selected courses taught at UND
- MATH 208: Discrete Mathematics
- MATH 266: Elementary Differential Equations
- MATH 330: Proof, Set Theory, and Logic
- MATH 442: Linear Algebra
- MATH 461: Numerical Analysis
- MATH 515: Applied Mathematics — Nonlinear Dynamics
- 2025 — Student Athletics Distinguished Faculty of the Month, University of North Dakota
- 2024 — Early Career Scholars Program Research Award, University of North Dakota
- 2021 — SPOT Award for Outstanding and Distinguished Contributions, The Aerospace Corporation
- 2018 — Catherine Gibbs Shaw Fund Mathematics Award, University of Wyoming
- Ph.D. in mathematics, University of Wyoming, 2019
- M.S. in mathematics, University of Wyoming, 2017
- B.A. in mathematics and economics, Augustana University, 2015
Dr. Christopherson's research asks how organized or stable structure emerges in complex mathematical and computational systems. He currently works in three connected areas:
- Ramsey theory and probabilistic thresholds. When sufficiently large unorganized objects are forced to contain ordered substructure, and when growing random objects acquire such structure with high probability.
- Nonlinear control and dynamical systems. When feedback can stabilize a system, how much feedback gain is required, and which topological or quantitative obstructions prevent stabilization.
- Sparse neural networks and lottery-ticket methods. How capable subnetworks arise inside overparameterized models and how they can be found reliably.
In research, Dr. Christopherson draws on combinatorics, topology, probability, optimization and computation, often in collaboration with students.
Current preprints
- Double-Scoring: Reliable Extraction of Strong Lottery Tickets, with Jack Baretz, Darian Colgrove and Salah Dandan, 2026.
- Brockett Openness Profiles and Gain-Limited Feedback Stabilization, with Farhad Jafari, 2026.
- Conditional Park–Pham Bounds under Positive Correlation, with Darian Colgrove, 2026.
Selected journal articles
- When do the Kahn–Kalai bounds provide nontrivial information?, with Jack Baretz, Journal of Inequalities and Applications, article 23, 2025.
- Continuous Feedback Stabilization of Nonlinear Control Systems by Composition Operators, with Boris S. Mordukhovich and Farhad Jafari, ESAIM: Control, Optimisation and Calculus of Variations 28, article 30, 2022.
- A Variational Approach to Local Asymptotic and Exponential Stabilization of Nonlinear Systems, with Farhad Jafari and Boris S. Mordukhovich, SN Operations Research Forum 1, article 5, 2020.
Additional publications and presentations are available on my personal website. See also my Google Scholar and arXiv profiles.
- 2022–present — Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of North Dakota
- 2021–2024 — Senior Member of Technical Staff, The Aerospace Corporation; full-time through 2022 and casual appointment from 2022 to 2024
- 2020–2021 — Digital Engineering Intelligence Analyst, The Aerospace Corporation
- 2019–2020 — Academic Professional Lecturer and Tutoring Director, University of Wyoming