Glenn Sun

About Me

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

Currently, I am studying SAT solvers, including both algorithmic advancements and lower bounds (i.e. proof complexity). I maintain the solver Xorcle. 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 static analysis tools for developers.
• Educational methods and tools that make learning math and CS easier, especially in K–12 education. In this area, I focus less on research on more on actual teaching: I have been consistently teaching grades 7–12 in various programs since 2018.

Feel free to email me to ask about anything!

Research

1. Extending CDCL to Disjunctions of Parity Equations
   Paul Beame, Glenn Sun
   SAT 2026
   arXiv
   Dagstuhl
2. E-Graphs as Circuits, and Optimal Extraction via Treewidth
   Glenn Sun, Yihong Zhang, Haobin Ni
   Preprint, 2024
   arXiv
   slides
3. Deterministic Graph Coloring in the Streaming Model
   Sepehr Assadi, Andrew Chen, Glenn Sun
   STOC 2022
   arXiv
   ACM
4. Visualization Equilibrium
   Paula Kayongo, Glenn Sun, Jason Hartline, Jessica Hullman
   IEEE TVCG 2022
   arXiv
   IEEE

Teaching

University of Washington

• (TA) Autumn 2026: CSE 322 Foundations of Computing II
• (TA) Spring 2026: CSE P 590B Computer-Aided Reasoning for Software
• (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.

• Intro to linear algebra
• Monsky's theorem and p-adic valuations
• The practice and theory of SAT solvers
• Liouville's theorem on elementary antiderivatives
• Programming in Whitespace (with Jennifer Gao and Chloe Stewart)
• (all other courses are listed below)

expand

• Transistors to programming: Building a computer from first principles
• Applications of Fourier analysis on finite abelian groups
• Intro to linear programming
• Monads and category theory in programming
• 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)
• Quantum computation and the CHSH game (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
  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 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 September 10, 2026.