Will Perkins
Curriculum vitae
Current:
- Birmingham Fellow and Lecturer (assistant professor) at the University of Birmingham (UK), 2015 - present
- Research Interests: Probability, algorithms, phase transitions, combinatorics, and statistics.
- Email: math@willperkins.org
- Address: School of Mathematics, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Webpage: http://willperkins.org/
Previous:
- NSF Postdoc at the Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011 - 2014
Education:
- New York University
- Ph.D. in Mathematics, 2007 - 2011
- MacCracken Fellowship
- Advisor: Joel Spencer
- Yale University
- B.A. in History, 1999-2003
Awards:
- Kurt O. Friedrichs Prize for Outstanding Dissertation in Mathematics at NYU, 2011
- NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2011
Research Papers:
- Published or to appear:
- The Widom-Rowlinson model, the hard-core model and the extremality of the complete graph, to appear, European Journal of Combinatorics, (with Emma Cohen, Peter Csikvari, and Prasad Tetali)
- On the Widom-Rowlinson Occupancy Fraction in Regular Graphs, to appear, Combinatorics, Probability and Computing, (with Emma Cohen and Prasad Tetali)
- Belief Propagation on replica symmetric random factor graph models, extended abstract in RANDOM 2016, (with Amin Coja-Oghlan)
- Spectral Thresholds in the Bipartite Stochastic Block Model, COLT 2016, (with Laura Florescu)
- Birthday Inequalities, Repulsion, and Hard Spheres, Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, 2016
- Subsampled Power Iteration: a Unified Algorithm for Block Models and Planted CSP's, Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 2015 (with Vitaly Feldman and Santosh Vempala)
- On the Complexity of Random Satisfiability Problems with Planted Solutions, STOC 2015, (with Vitaly Feldman and Santosh Vempala)
- Large Deviations for the Empirical Distribution in the Branching Random Walk (with Oren Louidor), Electronic Journal of Probability, 2015
- On Sharp Thresholds in Random Geometric Graphs (with Milan Bradonjic), RANDOM 2014
- Random k-SAT and the Power of Two Choices, Random Structures and Algorithms, 2014
- Some deficiencies of Chi-Square and classical exact tests of significance, Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis, 2014 (with Mark Tygert and Rachel Ward)
- The Bohman-Frieze Process Near Criticality Random Structures and Algorithms, 2013 (with Mihyun Kang and Joel Spencer)
- The Forgetfulness of Balls and Bins , Random Structures and Algorithms, 2012
- Computing the confidence levels for a root-mean-square test of goodness-of-fit , Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2011 (with Mark Tygert and Rachel Ward)
- Hardness of Finding Independent Sets In Almost 3-Colorable Graphs , FOCS 2010 (with Irit Dinur, Subhash Khot, and Muli Safra)
- In submission:
- On the average size of independent sets in triangle-free graphs, submitted, (with Ewan Davies, Matthew Jenssen, and Barnaby Roberts)
- Limits of discrete distributions and Gibbs measures on random graphs, submitted, (with Amin Coja-Oghlan and Kathrin Skubch)
- Independent Sets, Matchings, and Occupancy Fractions, submitted, (with Ewan Davies, Matthew Jenssen, and Barnaby Roberts)
Invited Talks:
- TBA, AIM workshop on randomized computational problems, San Jose, California, June 2017.
- TBA, Banff workshop on Random Geometric Graphs and their Applications to Complex Networks, Banff, Canada, November 2016.
- "Belief propagation on replica symmetric random factor graphs", Workshop on Phase Transitions in Discrete Structures, University of Frankfurt, July 2016.
- "An Occupancy Method for Bounding Partition Functions and Counting Matchings", invited minisymposium talk, SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics, June 2016.
- "Occupancy fractions, independent sets, and matchings", Random Roads: A Celebration of Joel Spencer's 70th Birthday, NYU, April 2016.
- "An Occupancy Approach to the Hard-Core Model", Simons Institute workshop on Markov Chains and Phase Transitions, February 2016.
- "Birthday Inequalities, Repulsion, and Hard Spheres", Birmingham Theoretical Physics Seminar, February 2016.
- "Statistical Algorithms and Planted Satisfiability Problems", Cambridge Statistics Seminar, February 2016.
- "Algorithms and Barriers for Random Hypergraph Partitioning", Bristol Algorithms Days, University of Bristol, February 2016.
- "An Occupancy Approach to the Hard-Core Model", Probability Seminar, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense, January 2016.
- "An Occupancy Approach to the Hard-Core Model", Discrete Math Seminar, Goethe University of Frankfurt, December 2015.
- "Statistical Algorithms for Planted Satisfiability Problems", Algorithms Seminar, Oxford University, November 2015.
- "An excluded volume approach to hard spheres, independent sets, and matchings", Probability Seminar, University of Bath, October 2015.
- "On the Complexity of Random Satisfiability Problems with Planted Solutions", STOC 2015, Portland, OR, June 2015.
- "Birthday Inequalities, Hard Spheres, and Independent Sets", London Colloquia in Combinatorics, LSE, May 2015.
- "Birthday Inequalities, Hard Spheres, and Independent Sets", Combinatorics Seminar, University of Cambridge, April 2015.
- "Spectral Algorithms for Random Hypergraph Partitioning", DIMAP Seminar, University of Warwick, April 2015.
- "Algorithmic Partitioning of Random Hypergraphs", Combinatorics and Game Theory Seminar, London School of Economics, March 2015.
- "Birthday Inequalities and Hard Spheres", Combinatorics Seminar, University of Birmingham, January 2015.
- "Stochastic Block Models and Planted CSP's", Probability and Related Fields Seminar, Indiana University, December 2014.
- "Algorithmically Partitioning Random Hypergraphs", Penn/Temple Probability Seminar, December 2014.
- "Stochastic block models and planted CSP's", Probability Seminar, University of Minnesota, October 2014.
- "Grading Schemes to Prioritize Learning", Georgia Tech CETL, Innovations in Teaching, October 2014.
- "Finding Planted Partitions in Random Hypergraphs", SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics, Probabilistic Combinatorics Minisymposium, June 2014.
- "Algorithmic Partitioning of Random Hypergraphs", Atlanta Lecture Series in Combinatorics and Graph Theory, April 2014.
- "Sharp Thresholds in Random Geometric Graphs", New Frontiers in Random Geometric Graphs, Lorentz Center, Leiden, April 2014.
- "Finding Planted Partitions in Random Hypergraphs", Golosino Seminar, ESPCI Paris, April 2014.
- "Thresholds for Random Geometric k-SAT", Combinatorics Seminar, Emory University, November 2013.
- "Thresholds for Random Geometric k-SAT", Stochastics Seminar, Georgia Tech, October 2013.
- "Random k-SAT and the Power of Two Choices", Combinatorics Seminar, University of Illinois Chicago, May 2013.
- "Random k-SAT and the Power of Two Choices", Theory Seminar, Courant Institute, February 2013.
- "Random k-SAT and the Power of Two Choices", CS Theory/Math Seminar, Purdue, February 2013.
- "Spatial Large Deviations in the Branching Random Walk", Probability Seminar, UCLA, January 2013.
- "Large Deviations in the Branching Random Walk", ACO Student Seminar, Georgia Tech, October 2012.
- "The Power of Two Choices in Random Graphs and CSP's", Algebra and Discrete Math seminar, Clemson University, October 2012.
- "Random k-SAT and the Power of Two Choices" at the Georgia Tech Combinatorics Seminar, September 2012.
- "Achlioptas Processes: Recent Results and New Problems" at SIAM Conference on Discrete Math, Halifax, Canada, June 2012.
- "The Differential Equation Method and Phase Transitions in Random Graphs" at Yandex Corporation, Moscow, Russia, May 2012.
- "The Bohman-Frieze Process" at the Foundations of Computer Science Seminar, Weizmann Institute, May 2011.
- "The Bohman-Frieze Process" at the Theory of Computation Seminar, Tel Aviv University, May 2011.
- "The Bohman-Frieze Process" at the Combinatorics Seminar, Georgia Tech, April 2011.
- "Phase Transitions of Achlioptas Processes" at the ACO Seminar, Carnegie Mellon, March 2011.
- "The Bohman-Frieze Process" at the Probability and Mathematical Physics Seminar, NYU, February 2011.
- "The Bohman-Frieze Process" at the Discrete Math Seminar, Rutgers, February 2011.
- "Phase Transitions of Achlioptas Processes" at the Discrete Math Seminar, Princeton, February 2011.
- "The Bohman-Frieze Process" at the Methods for Discrete Structures Monday Colloquium. Berlin, Germany, December 2010.
- "Hardness of Finding Independent Sets in Almost 3-Colorable Graphs" at FOCS. Las Vegas, NV, October 2010.
- "The Forgetfulness of Balls and Bins" at the ETH Mittagsseminar, Zurich, Switzerland, September 2010.
- "The Forgetfulness of Balls and Bins" at the Computer Science Theory Seminar, Courant Institute. New York, March 2010.
Academic Visits:
- Postdoc at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), Minneapolis, MN, Fall 2014
- Part of the Annual Program in Discrete Structures: Analysis and Applications
- Paris-Est, Marne-la-Vallee, Paris. April 2014.
- AIM Squares Workshop on New Directions in Mass Transport, Palo Alto, CA. September, 2013.
- Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. August 2013.
- UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. January 2013.
- Moscow State University & Yandex Corporation, Moscow, Russia. May 2012.
- Weizmann Institute & Tel Aviv University, Israel. May 2011.
- Technische Universität Berlin, Germany. August - December 2010.
Professional Service
Referee For:
- Probability Theory and Related Fields
- Random Structures and Algorithms
- STOC
- FOCS
- Journal of the ACM
- SICOMP
- Annals of Applied Probability
- SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics
- RANDOM / APPROX
- COLT
- SODA
Teaching:
- Instructor at Birmingham:
- Fall 2017, 2STAT: Statistics
- Spring 2016, 3COM/4COM: Combinatorics
- Instructor at Georgia Tech:
- Fall 2013, Math 4221: Stochastic Processes I
- Spring 2013, Math 6221: Advanced Classical Probability
- Fall 2012, Math 4221: Stochastic Processes I
- Spring 2012, Math 3215: Probability and Statistics
- Spring 2012, CS 8803: Discrete Fourier Analysis and Applications
- Instructor at NYU:
- Summer 2010: Linear Algebra
- Fall 2010: Written Exam Workshop
- Spring 2009: Math Patterns in Nature
Previous Employment:
- University of Michigan:
- Assistant Men's Rowing Coach, 2005 - 2007
- St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago, IL:
- Head Boys' and Girls' Rowing Coach, 2003 - 2005