Glenn Sun

About Me

I'm a third-year PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Washington. My undergrad and master's were in Mathematics at UCLA. My temporary advisor is Paul Beame and my primary affiliation is with the CS Theory group.

Currently, I am studying SAT solvers broadly, including both algorithmic advancements and lower bounds (i.e. proof complexity). More broadly, I am interested in:

• Combinatorial and algebraic approaches to problem solving.
• Systems that use automated reasoning and logic to improve working efficiency and correctness, such as theorem provers and computer algebra systems for mathematicians, and code analysis and generation tools for developers.
• Educational methods and tools that make learning math and CS easier, especially in K–12 education. Although I haven't done research in this area yet, I have been consistently teaching grades 7–12 in various programs since 2018.

Feel free to email me to ask about anything!

Research

1. E-Graphs as Circuits, and Optimal Extraction via Treewidth
   Glenn Sun, Yihong Zhang, Haobin Ni
   Preprint, 2024
   arXiv
   slides
2. Deterministic Graph Coloring in the Streaming Model
   Sepehr Assadi, Andrew Chen, Glenn Sun
   STOC 2022
   arXiv
   ACM
3. Visualization Equilibrium
   Paula Kayongo, Glenn Sun, Jason Hartline, Jessica Hullman
   IEEE TVCG 2022
   arXiv
   IEEE

Teaching

University of Washington

• (Instructor of Record) Autumn 2025: CSE 417 Introduction to Algorithms for Non-CSE Students
• (TA) Winter 2025: CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms
• (TA) Autumn 2024: CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms
• (TA) Autumn 2023: CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms

Canada/USA Mathcamp

Since 2024, I have been designing and teaching several unique courses each year for Canada/USA Mathcamp, a summer camp for advanced students in grades 8–12. Most courses are designed for 5 days @ 1 hour/day, though some can be as short as 1 day. Below is a selection of the courses that I was most excited about.

• Monsky's theorem and p-adic valuations
• The practice and theory of SAT solvers
• Monads and category theory in programming
• Liouville's theorem on elementary antiderivatives
• Programming in Whitespace (with Jennifer Gao and Chloe Stewart)
• Quantum computation and the CHSH game (with Jennifer Gao)
• (all other courses are listed below)

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• Mathcamp Crash Course
• Three approaches to calculus without limits
• Using slide rules
• Tarski–Seidenberg theorem
• Gröbner bases and polynomial inference
• Primitive recursive functions (with Jennifer Gao)
• A 10-minute song about mathematical coincidences (with Jennifer Gao, Chloe Stewart, and Abi Tenenbaum)

Other

• UW Math Circle (current)
• AoPS Academy Redmond
• Polymath Jr. program
• UCLA Math Circle
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  • Hat Puzzles and the Axiom of Choice
  • Introduction to Algorithms
  • P vs. NP
  • Intro to Quantum Computing
  • Fast Fourier Transform
  • Zero Knowledge Proofs
  • Mathematics of Juggling
  • Recurrences and Generating Functions
  • Gaussian Elimination
  • Really Big Numbers
  • Bezout's Theorem, Part 1
  • Bezout's Theorem, Part 2
• AwesomeMath Summer Program
• Program for Algorithmic and Combinatorial Thinking

Maps

I have a hobby of making maps. If these are useful to you, please use them.

• Fast and Frequent Transit of Greater Seattle (Sept. 2025)

Miscellaneous Notes

• Full notes for UCLA MATH 285N: Tiling Problems (Fall 2022)
• Partial notes for UCLA CS 281A: Computability and Complexity (Fall 2020)
  expand

  • Lecture 3: Universal Simulation of Turing Machines
  • Lecture 11: PH with Oracles and Introduction to Randomness
  • Lecture 12: Randomized Complexity Classes
  • Lecture 13: Sipser–Gács Theorem and Other Topics in Randomness

Last updated August 15, 2025.