Glenn Sun

About Me

I'm a second-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.

Mathematically, I gravitate towards fundmental combinatorial questions. I'm currently working on lower bounds for particular proof systems and other questions in proof complexity.

In terms of applied topics, I broadly like things that make life easier. My academic life so far has mostly been about math and computer science, so making life easier can manifest in a few distinct ways:

• 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 are always on my mind. Although I haven't done any research in this area yet, I have been consistently applying what I read to teach grades 7–12 in various programs over the past six years.

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
   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

• Winter 2025: CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms
• Autumn 2024: CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms
• Autumn 2023: CSE 421 Introduction to Algorithms

Other

• Canada/USA Mathcamp (current)
  expand

  The linked materials may contain minor differences from the materials used at Mathcamp. For classes without links, there may exist materials not polished enough to be posted publicly. Contact me for details.

  • Tarski–Seidenberg theorem
  • Gröbner bases and polynomial inference
  • Liouville's theorem on elementary antiderivatives
  • Programming in Whitespace (with Jennifer Gao and Chloe Stewart)
  • Quantum computation and the CHSH game (with Jennifer Gao)
  • Primitive recursive functions (with Jennifer Gao)
  • Mathematical coincidences (with Jennifer Gao, Chloe Stewart, and Abi Tenenbaum)
• UW Math Circle (current)
• AoPS Academy Redmond (current)
• Polymath Jr. program
• UCLA Math Circle
  expand

  • 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

Miscellaneous Writing

• 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 November 21, 2024.