"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
-Suess

Erik Holmes

Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Toronto

Email: eholmes "at" math.toronto.edu
Office: (Mostly zoom rooms ATM)

A bit about me (mathematically)

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto working with Ila Varma. Previously I was a postdoc at the University of Calgary working with Khoa Nguyen and a member of the number theory group. I received my PhD in 2021 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa under the supervision of Rob Harron.

Research Overview

My current research focuses on questions in number theory and arithmetic statistics. In this area I spend much of my time thinking about lattices attached to number fields-both integral and unit lattices-and in seeing how their geometry changes as we vary over families of fields. I am also exploring a connection between the distributions of lattices and log terms in number field asymptotics (i.e. Malle's conjecture). Finally, as some of these projects involve infinite families of lattices, with arbitrarily large rank, I am interested in possible applications to lattice based cryptography. For more on these projects/topics see my research page or send me an email; I am intererested in learning about new problems/topics/projects, and am always open to new collaborations!


Organization

  • Math Writing Cafe:

    In Calgary Seda Albayrak and I established a weekly writing cafe which is geared towards graduate students and postdocs in the math department. More information is on the site we created. Seda continues to run this weekly writing event in Calgary and I plan to run a similar event in Toronto after my leave.
  • Alberta Number Theory Days XIV:

    Together with Kübra Benli and Brandon Gill we organized the 14th iteration of ANTD in Banff, AB: March 31-April 2.


Teaching

University of Toronto
  • Winter 2023: Math 136 (Calculus II): I was on parental leave after the first month of the term.
  • Fall 2023: Math 135 (Calculus I)

University of Calgary
  • Spring 2023: Math 211 (Linear methods I)
  • Fall 2022: Math 275 (Calculus for Engineers and Scientists)
  • Fall 2021: Math 265 (University Calculus I)
(see teaching page for more information about past courses/departmental syllabi)


A bit about me (non-Mathematically)

Outside of math I enjoy many things: coffee, cooking (and eating!), dogs, spending time with friends and family, stories, traveling, and many outdoor activities. I also have a passion for technology: this was overshadowed a bit during graduate school-besides a little webdesign attempt or two-but it has picked up again recently (currently digging into ML/AI and data science tools).
Prior to rediscovering a childhood passion for math-in the last years of my undergraduate studies-I worked in construction, on farms, helped with logging/forest management, and got certified as a wildland firefighter. During graduate school I worked in video production (primarily in editing/color/post production) helping to tell peoples/brands stories. My focus now is primarily on math/tech though I am still quite fond of art/crafts and have spent a fair bit of my free time taking photos and learning to (more trying to) work with wood, leather and clay: you can see some of my crafting attempts here.



A few resources