Thesis Information
Title: Invariant theory, tensors and computational complexity
Adviser: Harm Derksen
Institution: University of Michigan
Graduation Date: April 2018
Contact Information
Email Candidate
Candidate Website
SIGACT Membership No.: 5056964
Candidate Bio:
My name is Visu Makam. I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, where my mentor is Avi Wigderson. I received my Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Michigan in April 2018 under the direction of Harm Derksen.
Research Summary:
My research is at the interface of mathematics and theoretical computer science, broadly falling under the purview of invariant theory, representation theory, tensors and complexity. More specifically, I develop and use tools from abstract algebraic subjects to tackle problems in tensors, complexity and other areas of theoretical computer science.
Teaching Aims:
My overarching goal in teaching is to teach the students how to think rather than what to think.
Paper 1:
More barriers for rank methods, via a "numeric to symbolic" transfer, Ankit Garg, Visu Makam, Rafael Oliveira and Avi Wigderson, FOCS 2019
Link to PDFPaper 2:
Polynomial degree bounds for matrix semi-invariants, Harm Derksen and Visu Makam, Advances in Mathematics, 13 April 2017
Link to PDFPaper 3:
Singular tuples of matrices is not a null cone (and, the symmetries of algebraic varieties), Visu Makam and Avi Wigderson, arXiv preprint, 2019
Link to PDFKeywords: polynomial identity testing, algebraic complexity, geometric complexity theory, invariant theory, tensors