Research Profile

Desmond MacHale

BIOGRAPHY

Research Interests

My main research area has been algebra,especially finite groups and rings, but I have
also contributed to geometry, problem solving, and the history of mathematics.
In algebra, I have concentrated on two main areas-commutativity of algebraic systems, and automorphisms of finite groups. I have written about twenty-five original research papers in these areas and my work has been developed and extended by several of my students and by many international research workers.

I have written the first full-length biography of George Boole which is now regarded
as the seminal work in this area. I teach one of the few courses on the history of mathematics in these Islands and my students and I have produced a large amount of research on the life and work of many eminent Irish mathematicians .


Publications

Books

 YearPublication
(1993)COMIC SECTIONS.
D. MacHale; (1993) COMIC SECTIONS. Dublin: Boole Press. [Details]
(1985)GEORGE BOOLE ¿HIS LIFE AND WORK.
D. MacHale; (1985) GEORGE BOOLE ¿HIS LIFE AND WORK. Dublin: Boole Press. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2008)'ON THE SUM OF THE CHARACTER DEGREES OF A FINITE GROUP'
With R.Heffernan; (2008) 'ON THE SUM OF THE CHARACTER DEGREES OF A FINITE GROUP' [Details]
(2008)'THE DISTANCE FROM A POINT TO A LINE'
D. MacHale; (2008) 'THE DISTANCE FROM A POINT TO A LINE' [Details]
(2008)'THE WELL¿ORDERING PRINCIPLE FOR N'
D. MacHale; (2008) 'THE WELL¿ORDERING PRINCIPLE FOR N' [Details]
(2008)'INTEGRATION WITHOUT TEARS'
D. MacHale; (2008) 'INTEGRATION WITHOUT TEARS' [Details]
(2007)'POSITIVE SOLUTIONS OF MORDELL¿S EQUATION'
D. MacHale; (2007) 'POSITIVE SOLUTIONS OF MORDELL¿S EQUATION' [Details]
(2006)'SOME SUPERSOLUBILITY CONDITIONS FOR FINITE GROUPS'
With F.Barry and A Ni She; (2006) 'SOME SUPERSOLUBILITY CONDITIONS FOR FINITE GROUPS' [Details]
(2005)'ON A PARTICULAR DIOPHANTINE EQUATION'
D. MacHale; (2005) 'ON A PARTICULAR DIOPHANTINE EQUATION' [Details]
(2004)'FINITE GROUPS WITH FEW AUTOMORPHISMS'
D. MacHale With R.Sheehy; (2004) 'FINITE GROUPS WITH FEW AUTOMORPHISMS' [Details]
(2003)'SOME IMPROVED DISSECTIONS OF SQUARES'
D. MacHale With J.Kingston; (2003) 'SOME IMPROVED DISSECTIONS OF SQUARES' [Details]
(2001)'DISSECTING SQUARES'
D, MacHale With J.Kingston; (2001) 'DISSECTING SQUARES' [Details]
(2001)'(a+b)^(-1) = a^(-1) + b^(-1) REVISITED'
D. MacHale; (2001) '(a+b)^(-1) = a^(-1) + b^(-1) REVISITED' [Details]
(2000)'DIOPHANTINE BOXES'
D. MacHale; (2000) 'DIOPHANTINE BOXES' [Details]
(1997)'THE SUBGROUP GENERATED BY THE SQUARES'
D. MacHale; (1997) 'THE SUBGROUP GENERATED BY THE SQUARES' [Details]
(1997)'LOWER CENTRAL SERIES OF GROUPS WITH SMALL UPPER CENTRAL FACTORS'
D, MacHale With Burns et al; (1997) 'LOWER CENTRAL SERIES OF GROUPS WITH SMALL UPPER CENTRAL FACTORS' [Details]
(1995)'FINITE GROUPS WITH ODD ORDER AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS'
D. MacHale; (1995) 'FINITE GROUPS WITH ODD ORDER AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS' [Details]
(1994)'COMMUTATOR SUBGROUPS OF FINITE GROUPS'
D. MacHale, O¿Murchu and Wiegold; (1994) 'COMMUTATOR SUBGROUPS OF FINITE GROUPS' [Details]
(1994)'FINITE GROUPS WHOSE AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS ARE 2-GROUPS'
D. MacHale; (1994) 'FINITE GROUPS WHOSE AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS ARE 2-GROUPS' [Details]
(1994)'FINITE GROUPS WHOSE AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS ARE 2¿GROUPS'
D. MacHale, Flynn et al; (1994) 'FINITE GROUPS WHOSE AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS ARE 2¿GROUPS' [Details]
(1992)'POLYNOMIALS THAT FORCE A RING TO BE COMMUTATIVE'
D. MacHale T.J.Laffey; (1992) 'POLYNOMIALS THAT FORCE A RING TO BE COMMUTATIVE' [Details]
(1991)'DETERMINING ALL FINITE GROUPS WHOSE AUTOMORPHISM IS A P¿GROUP'
D. MacHale J.Flynn; (1991) 'DETERMINING ALL FINITE GROUPS WHOSE AUTOMORPHISM IS A P¿GROUP' [Details]
(1986)'CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENTS IN GROUPS'
D. MacHale; (1986) 'CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENTS IN GROUPS' [Details]
(1983)'RINGS THAT ARE NEARLY BOOLEAN III'
D. MacHale; (1983) 'RINGS THAT ARE NEARLY BOOLEAN III' [Details]
(1983)'SOME FINITE GROUPS WHICH ARE RARELY AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS II'
D. MacHale; (1983) 'SOME FINITE GROUPS WHICH ARE RARELY AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS II' [Details]
(1982)'IDEMPOTENTS IN FINITE RINGS'
D. MacHale; (1982) 'IDEMPOTENTS IN FINITE RINGS' [Details]
(1982)'CONSTRUCTING INTEGER ANGLES'
D. MacHale; (1982) 'CONSTRUCTING INTEGER ANGLES' [Details]
(1981)'SOME FINITE GROUPS WHICH ARE RARELY AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS I'
D. MacHale D.Flannery; (1981) 'SOME FINITE GROUPS WHICH ARE RARELY AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS I' [Details]
(1980)'RINGS THAT ARE NEARLY BOOLEAN'
D. MacHale; (1980) 'RINGS THAT ARE NEARLY BOOLEAN' [Details]
(1976)'MINIMUM COUNTEREXAMPLES IN GROUP THEORY'
D. MacHale; (1976) 'MINIMUM COUNTEREXAMPLES IN GROUP THEORY' [Details]
(1974)'POWER MAPPINGS AND GROUP MORPHISMS'
D. MacHale; (1974) 'POWER MAPPINGS AND GROUP MORPHISMS' [Details]

Other Journals

 YearPublication
(1998)'TOTALLY NON¿COMMUTATIVE SYSTEMS'
D. MacHale; (1998) 'TOTALLY NON¿COMMUTATIVE SYSTEMS' Math Gazette, . [Details]
(1998)'TWO¿GROUPS IN WHICH AN AUTOMORPHISM INVERTS PRECISELY HALF THE ELEMENTS'
D. MacHale With P.Hegarty; (1998) 'TWO¿GROUPS IN WHICH AN AUTOMORPHISM INVERTS PRECISELY HALF THE ELEMENTS' Bull.London Math Soc, 30 (2) :129-135. [Details]
(1997)'VANISHING COFFEE MORNINGS AND IRISH ELECTIONS'
D. MacHale; (1997) 'VANISHING COFFEE MORNINGS AND IRISH ELECTIONS' Math Gazette, . [Details]
(1996)'`WHEN IS A FINITE RING A FIELD?'
D. MacHale; (1996) '`WHEN IS A FINITE RING A FIELD?' Irish Math Society Bull, (37) :35-38. [Details]
(1995)'PRODUCTS OF GROUP COMMUTATORS'
D. Machale; (1995) 'PRODUCTS OF GROUP COMMUTATORS' Irish Math Soc, . [Details]
(1994)'EPIMORPHISMS ACTING ON BURNSIDE'
D. MacHale; (1994) 'EPIMORPHISMS ACTING ON BURNSIDE' Irish Math. Soc. Bull, . [Details]
(1993)'COMMUTATOR SUBGROUPS OF GROUPS WITH SMALL CENTRAL FACTOR GROUPS'
D. Machale, P.O¿Murchu; (1993) 'COMMUTATOR SUBGROUPS OF GROUPS WITH SMALL CENTRAL FACTOR GROUPS' Proc.Roy.Ir. Acad, . [Details]
(1992)'0 = x¿x'
D. MacHale; (1992) '0 = x¿x' Math Gazette, . [Details]
(1992)'HOW EASY IS A GOLF PUTT?'
D. MacHale; (1992) 'HOW EASY IS A GOLF PUTT?' Math Gazette, . [Details]
(1991)'MY FAVOURITE POLYNOMIAL'
D. MacHale; (1991) 'MY FAVOURITE POLYNOMIAL' Math Gazette, . [Details]
(1990)'PROBABILITY IN FINITE SEMIGROUPS'
D. MacHale; (1990) 'PROBABILITY IN FINITE SEMIGROUPS' Irish Math Soc.Bull, . [Details]
(1990)'A REMARK ON BOOLEAN RINGS'
D. MacHale; (1990) 'A REMARK ON BOOLEAN RINGS' Math.Mag, . [Details]
(1989)'THE 3¿4¿5 TRIANGLE AGAIN'
Math Gazette; (1989) 'THE 3¿4¿5 TRIANGLE AGAIN' Math Gazette, . [Details]
(1989)'ELEMENTS'
D. MacHale M.Deaconescu; (1989) 'ELEMENTS' J.Austral.Math. Soc, . [Details]
(1988)'WEDDERBURN¿S THEOREM REVISITED (AGAIN)'
D. MacHale; (1988) 'WEDDERBURN¿S THEOREM REVISITED (AGAIN)' Irish Math Soc.Bull, . [Details]
(1987)'AN ANTICOMMUTATIVITY CONSEQUENCE OF A RING COMMUTATIVITY THEOREM OF HERSTEIN'
D. MacHale; (1987) 'AN ANTICOMMUTATIVITY CONSEQUENCE OF A RING COMMUTATIVITY THEOREM OF HERSTEIN' American Mathematical Monthly, . [Details]
(1987)'OPERATIONS DISTRIBUTIVE OVER EACH OTHER'
K.Fraher, D. Machale; (1987) 'OPERATIONS DISTRIBUTIVE OVER EACH OTHER' Math. Gazette, . [Details]
(1987)'NONCOMMUTATIVE ANTICOMMUTATIVE RINGS'
D. MacHale S.Buckley; (1987) 'NONCOMMUTATIVE ANTICOMMUTATIVE RINGS' Irish Math Soc Bull, . [Details]
(1986)'AUTOMORPHISM ORBITS IN FINITE GROUPS'
T.J.Laffey, D. MacHale; (1986) 'AUTOMORPHISM ORBITS IN FINITE GROUPS' J.Austral. Math. Soc, . [Details]
(1981)'MINIMUM COUNTEREXAMPLES IN GROUP THEORY'
D. MacHale; (1981) 'MINIMUM COUNTEREXAMPLES IN GROUP THEORY' Math.Mag, . [Details]
(1976)'COMMUTATIVITY IN FINITE RINGS'
D. MacHale; (1976) 'COMMUTATIVITY IN FINITE RINGS' American Mathematical Monthly, . [Details]
(1973)'GROUPS OF ODD ORDER WITH AN AUTOMORPHISM INVERTING MANY ELEMENTS'
H.Liebeck, D. MacHale; (1973) 'GROUPS OF ODD ORDER WITH AN AUTOMORPHISM INVERTING MANY ELEMENTS' J.London Math Soc, . [Details]
(1972)'GROUPS WITH AUTOMORPHISMS INVERTING MOST ELEMENTS'
H. Liebeck, D. Machale; (1972) 'GROUPS WITH AUTOMORPHISMS INVERTING MOST ELEMENTS' Math. Z, . [Details]

Conference Contributions

 YearPublication
(2005)International Conference on Group Theory,
D.MacHale; (2005) Supersolubility in Finite Groups. [Oral Presentation], International Conference on Group Theory, St Andrews University , 08-AUG-05 - 08-AUG-08

Professional Activities

Honours and Awards

 YearTitleAwarding Body
2004Teaching Award for Course on Problem Solving (With D.Hurley and T.Carroll) UCC
2005Award for best paper on Geometric Dissections in Mathematical Gazette (With Joe Kingston) Mathematical Association

Employment

 EmployerPositionFrom / To
Dept of Mathemathics, UCC Associate Professor/
UCC Statutory Lecturer05-JUN-92 / 07-JUN-96
UCC College Lecturer/

Education

 YearInstituionQualificationSubject
1968UCG BSCMathemathics
1968UCG MScMathemathtics
1972University of Keele PHDMaths
1998UCC DiplomaGeology

Other Activities

 Description

Visits Abroad

2004 St. Andrew's University To deliver a course of lectures on
Algebraic topics to staff and graduate students One week
 


Research Talks

2005 Automorphisms of Finite groups NUIG May 15 

2006 Some Supersolubility Conditions for Finite Groups NUIG May 16 

2008 On the Sum of Character Degrees of a Finite Group NUIG May 14 


Expert Assignments

2004 External Examiner for Ph.D Thesis in Group Theory. Oxford University

2005 Internal Examiner for Ph.D Thesis in Group Theory UCC 

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

Contact details

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Scoil na Ríomheolaíochta agus na Teicneolaíochta Faisnéise

School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Western Gateway Building, University College Cork, Western Road, Cork, Ireland

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