What we are interested in
Computers and Artificial Intelligence have always been an important tool for mathematicians, allowing one to gather data and extrapolate connections to formulate conjectures, exhaustively execute case analysis too large to be done by hand, solve underlying optimization problems, or to formalize and verify proofs. We are interested in exploring the many ways in which computational tools can be used to advance mathematics and formulate novel results by leveraging our unique knowledge of and access to the ZIB’s computational resources.
Researchers
Doctoral candidates
Undergraduate and Phase I Students
Former members
- Olaf Parczyk (2024–2026)
- Max Zimmer (2020–2026)
- Yves Jäckle (2023–2025)
- Lídia Rossell (2024)
- Maria Bulychev (2021–2023)
- Elias Schecke (2021–2022)
- Sergi Andreu (2020–2021)
- Minh Pham (2020–2021)
- Margot Cosson (2021)
- Anh Huy Do
External Collaborators
Talks and posters
Conference and workshop talks
- Jul 2026
- Fast Isotopy Computation for $T$-Curves by Christoph Spiegel
8th DOxML Conference, Ookayama [PDF] - Jul 2026
- The Agentic Researcher: A Practical Guide to AI-Assisted Research in Mathematics and Machine Learning by Nico Pelleriti
AI4Research Workshop, Seoul - Jul 2026
- Coloring the Plane with Neural Networks by Christoph Spiegel
PACOH – AI for Combinatorics, Jeju [PDF] - Jun 2026
- An Unsure Talk on an Un-Schur Problem by Christoph Spiegel
Flags in the Mountains, Bellvue [PDF] - Jul 2025
- Neural Discovery in Mathematics by Christoph Spiegel
42nd International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Vancouver [PDF] - May 2025
- Forcing Graphs to Be Forcing by Christoph Spiegel
13th HJSDM Conference, Ookayama [PDF] - May 2025
- An Unsure Talk on an Un-Schur Problem by Christoph Spiegel
23rd Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory Conference (CANT) (online) [PDF] - May 2025
- Neural Discovery in Mathematics by Christoph Spiegel
7th DOxML Conference, Kyoto [PDF] - Oct 2024
- Extending the Continuum of Six-Colorings by Christoph Spiegel
41st Kolloquium über Kombinatorik (KolKom), Heidelberg [PDF] - Jul 2024
- The Four-Color Ramsey Multiplicity of Triangles by Aldo Kiem
25th International Symposium on Mathematical Programming (ISMP), Montréal - Jul 2024
- Extending the Continuum of Six-Colorings by Christoph Spiegel
13th Discrete Mathematics Days (DMD), Alcalá de Henares [PDF] - Jul 2024
- The Four-Color Ramsey Multiplicity of Triangles by Aldo Kiem
13th Discrete Mathematics Days (DMD), Alcalá de Henares - May 2024
- On the Maximum Diameter of d-Dimensional Simplicial Complexes by Silas Rathke
Berlin-Poznań-Hamburg-Warsaw Seminar, Berlin - Dec 2023
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Tibor Szabó
45th Australasian Combinatorics Conference (ACC), Perth - Oct 2023
- The Role of Machine Learning for Mathematics by Christoph Spiegel
BMS RTA 8 – Practical Course, Berlin [PDF] - Aug 2023
- The Rado Multiplicity Problem in Vector Spaces Over Finite Fields by Christoph Spiegel
12th EUROCOMB Conference, Prague [PDF] - Aug 2023
- Computational Challenges in Flag Algebra Proofs by Christoph Spiegel
ICIAM 2023: Advances in Optimization I (ICIAM), Shinjuku [PDF] - Aug 2023
- Flag Algebras in Additive Combinatorics by Christoph Spiegel
5th DOxML Conference, Tokyo [PDF] - Jun 2023
- The 4-Color Ramsey Multiplicity of Triangles by Aldo Kiem
FoCM 2023: Graph Theory and Combinatorics (FoCM), Paris - Jun 2023
- Towards Flag Algebras in Additive Combinatorics by Christoph Spiegel
FoCM 2023: Graph Theory and Combinatorics (FoCM), Paris [PDF] - Jun 2023
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Olaf Parczyk
FoCM 2023: Graph Theory and Combinatorics (FoCM), Paris - May 2023
- Towards Flag Algebras in Additive Combinatorics by Christoph Spiegel
21st Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory Conference (CANT) (online) [PDF] - May 2023
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Tibor Szabó
Berlin-Poznań-Hamburg-Warsaw Seminar, Hamburg - Mar 2023
- Computer-Assisted Proofs in Extremal Combinatorics by Christoph Spiegel
Workshop on Optimization and Machine Learning, Waischenfeld [PDF] - Feb 2023
- Fully Computer-Assisted Proofs in Extremal Combinatorics by Christoph Spiegel
37th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Washington, DC [PDF] - Jan 2023
- Fully Computer-Assisted Proofs in Extremal Combinatorics by Christoph Spiegel
Combinatorial Optimization Workshop, Aussois [PDF] - Dec 2022
- Leveraging Combinatorial Symmetries in Flag Algebra-Based SDP Formulations by Christoph Spiegel
Workshop on Recent Advances in Optimization, Toronto [PDF] - Sep 2022
- Proofs in Extremal Combinatorics Through Optimization by Christoph Spiegel
ZIB-IMI-ISM-NUS-RIKEN-MODAL Workshop, Tokyo [PDF] - Sep 2022
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Olaf Parczyk
DMV Annual Meeting, Berlin - Aug 2022
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Olaf Parczyk
20th RS&A Conference, Gniezno - Jul 2022
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Christoph Spiegel
12th Discrete Mathematics Days (DMD), Santander [PDF] - Jun 2022
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Olaf Parczyk
Third Southwestern German Workshop on Graph Theory, Heidelberg - Sep 2017
- Rado Positional Games by Christoph Spiegel
The Music of Numbers Conference, Madrid [PDF] - Jun 2017
- Generalized Positional van der Waerden Games by Christoph Spiegel
Interactions with Combinatorics, Birmingham [PDF]
Research seminar talks
- Jul 2026
- Coloring the Plane with Neural Networks by Christoph Spiegel
IBS Extremal Combinatorics and Probability Group, Daejeon [PDF] - Oct 2025
- Sidorenko's Conjecture, Graph Operators and Box Products with Certain Subgraphs of Hypercubes by Aldo Kiem
ACO Student Seminar, Atlanta - Jul 2025
- Infinitely Many Counterexamples to a Conjecture of Lovász by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin - May 2025
- Coloring the Plane with Neural Networks by Christoph Spiegel
Advanced Topics in Combinatorics II, Taipei [PDF] - Feb 2025
- Neural Networks for Unsupervised Discovery of Plane Colorings by Konrad Plato
IOL Research Seminar (IOL), Berlin - Jan 2025
- An Unsure Talk on an Un-Schur Problem by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar AG Discrete Mathematics, Karlsruhe - Jan 2025
- Forcing Graphs to Be Forcing by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar TCS, Heidelberg - Dec 2024
- Coloring the Plane with Neural Networks by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin [PDF] - Nov 2024
- An Unsure Talk on an Un-Schur Problem by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin - Nov 2024
- Forcing Graphs and Graph Algebra Operators (2) by Aldo Kiem
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin - Nov 2024
- Forcing Graphs and Graph Algebra Operators (1) by Aldo Kiem
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin - Jun 2024
- Categorification of Flag Algebras by Aldo Kiem
LIMDA Seminar, Barcelona - Jun 2024
- On the Maximum Diameter of d-Dimensional Simplicial Complexes by Silas Rathke
Mittagsseminar Discrete Mathematics, Berlin - May 2024
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Tibor Szabó
Research seminar in Discrete Mathematics (online) [video] - Mar 2024
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Tibor Szabó
Atlanta Lecture Series Combinatorics and Graph Theory XXVIII, Atlanta - Feb 2024
- Maximal Diameter of Simplicial d-Complexes by Olaf Parczyk
Seminar on Combinatorics, Games and Optimisation, London - Nov 2023
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Olaf Parczyk
Seminar on Discrete Mathematics at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań - Feb 2023
- The Four-Color Ramsey Multiplicity of Triangles by Christoph Spiegel
LIMDA Seminar, Barcelona [PDF] - Nov 2022
- Flag Algebras for Edge-Colored Graphs by Aldo Kiem
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin - Apr 2022
- New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics by Christoph Spiegel
LIMDA Seminar, Barcelona - Nov 2019
- The Probabilistic Intuition in Positional Games by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar Large Networks and Random Graphs, Ilmenau - May 2017
- Random Strategies Are Nearly Optimal for Generalized van der Waerden Games by Christoph Spiegel
LIMDA Seminar, Barcelona - Feb 2016
- Van der Waerden Games (II) by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin - Jan 2016
- Van der Waerden Games (I) by Christoph Spiegel
Research Seminar Combinatorics, Berlin
Summer and winter school lectures
- Sep 2024
- The Role of Machine Learning for Mathematics by Christoph Spiegel
5th Computational Optimization at Work (CO@Work), Berlin [PDF] [video]
Poster presentations
- Jul 2026
- The Agentic Researcher: A Practical Guide to AI-Assisted Research in Mathematics and Machine Learning by Nico Pelleriti
AI4Math Workshop, Seoul - Jul 2026
- The Agentic Researcher: A Practical Guide to AI-Assisted Research in Mathematics and Machine Learning by Nico Pelleriti
AI4Research Workshop, Seoul - Jul 2025
- Neural Discovery in Mathematics: Do Machines Dream of Colored Planes? by Konrad Plato and Max Zimmer
42nd International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Vancouver - Jul 2024
- Categorification of Flag Algebras by Aldo Kiem
13th Discrete Mathematics Days (DMD), Alcalá de Henares
Publications and preprints
Preprints and reports
- Braun, G., Pokutta, S., and Weismantel, R. (2022). Alternating Linear Minimization: Revisiting von Neumann’s alternating projections.
[arXiv]
[slides]
[video]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2022_BraunPokuttaWeismantel_Alternatingminimization, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2212.02933}, arxiv = {arXiv:2212.02933}, primaryclass = {math.OC}, author = {Braun, Gábor and Pokutta, Sebastian and Weismantel, Robert}, title = {Alternating Linear Minimization: Revisiting von Neumann's alternating projections}, slides = {https://pokutta.com/slides/20230327-icerm.pdf}, video = {https://icerm.brown.edu/programs/sp-s23/w2/#schedule-item-4945}, date = {2022-12-06} } - Böttcher, J., Frankl, N., Mergoni Cecchelli, D., Parczyk, O., and Skokan, J. (2023). Graphs with large minimum degree and no small odd cycles are 3-colourable.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2023_BoettcherEtAl_Graphs3colourable, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2302.01875}, arxiv = {arXiv:2302.01875}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Böttcher, Julia and Frankl, Nóra and Mergoni Cecchelli, Domenico and Parczyk, Olaf and Skokan, Jozef}, title = {Graphs with large minimum degree and no small odd cycles are $3$-colourable}, date = {2023-02-03} } - Kiem, A., Parczyk, O., and Spiegel, C. (2024). Adjunctions, Box Products, and Forcing Families.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2024_KiemParczykSpiegel_Forcing, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2412.12904}, arxiv = {arXiv:2412.12904}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kiem, Aldo and Parczyk, Olaf and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {Adjunctions, Box Products, and Forcing Families}, date = {2024-12-17} } - Abiad, A., Garbe, F., Povill, X., and Spiegel, C. (2025). Infinitely many counterexamples to a conjecture of Lovász.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2025_AidaFrederikXavierSpiegel_Counterexampleslovasz_2506-21286, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2506.21286}, arxiv = {arXiv:2506.21286}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Abiad, Aida and Garbe, Frederik and Povill, Xavier and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {Infinitely many counterexamples to a conjecture of Lovász}, date = {2025-06-26} } - Pokutta, S. (2025). Scalable DC Optimization via Adaptive Frank-Wolfe Algorithms.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2025_Pokutta_DcoptimizationFrankwolfe_2507-17545, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2507.17545}, arxiv = {arXiv:2507.17545}, primaryclass = {math.OC}, author = {Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Scalable DC Optimization via Adaptive Frank-Wolfe Algorithms}, date = {2025-07-23} } - Glock, S., Parczyk, O., Rathke, S., and Szabó, T. (2026). The maximum diameter of d-dimensional simplicial complexes.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_GlockParczykRathkeSzabo_Maximumdiametersimplicialcomplexes_2602-20890, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2602.20890}, arxiv = {arXiv:2602.20890}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Glock, Stefan and Parczyk, Olaf and Rathke, Silas and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {The maximum diameter of $d$-dimensional simplicial complexes}, date = {2026-02-24} } - Pauls, J., Schrödter, K., Ligensa, S., Schwartz, M., Turan, B., Zimmer, M., Saatchi, S., Pokutta, S., Ciais, P., and Gieseke, F. (2026). ECHOSAT: Estimating Canopy Height Over Space And Time.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_JanEtAl_EchosatCanopyheight_2602-21421, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2602.21421}, arxiv = {arXiv:2602.21421}, primaryclass = {cs.CV}, author = {Pauls, Jan and Schrödter, Karsten and Ligensa, Sven and Schwartz, Martin and Turan, Berkant and Zimmer, Max and Saatchi, Sassan and Pokutta, Sebastian and Ciais, Philippe and Gieseke, Fabian}, title = {ECHOSAT: Estimating Canopy Height Over Space And Time}, date = {2026-02-24} } - Kaibel, V., and Pokutta, S. (2026). A Counterexample to Ziegler’s Cross-Polytope Conjecture for Simplicial 0/1-Polytopes.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_KaibelPokutta_Counterexampleziegler_2606-31640, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2606.31640}, arxiv = {arXiv:2606.31640}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kaibel, Volker and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {A Counterexample to Ziegler's Cross-Polytope Conjecture for Simplicial 0/1-Polytopes}, date = {2026-06-30} } - Kiem, A., and Wei, F. (2026). Explicit Fractalizers: Prime-Order Paley Graphs and other Cayley Graphs.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_KiemWei_PrimeOrderPaleyGraphs_2609-33526, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2609.33526}, arxiv = {arXiv:2609.33526}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kiem, Aldo and Wei, Fan}, title = {Explicit Fractalizers: Prime-Order Paley Graphs and other Cayley Graphs}, date = {2026-09-27} } - Pelleriti, N., Nelaturu, S. H., Zhou, Z., Li, Z., Zimmer, M., Han, B., and Pokutta, S. (2026). What Do Evolutionary Coding Agents Evolve?
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_PelleritiEtAl_Evotrace_2605-20086, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2605.20086}, arxiv = {arXiv:2605.20086}, primaryclass = {cs.NE}, author = {Pelleriti, Nico and Nelaturu, Sree Harsha and Zhou, Zhanke and Li, Zongze and Zimmer, Max and Han, Bo and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {What Do Evolutionary Coding Agents Evolve?}, date = {2026-05-19} } - Pokutta, S. (2026). (Approximate) Symmetric Extension Complexity of the Spanning Tree Polytope.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_Pokutta_Symmetricextensioncomplexity_2606-17017, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2606.17017}, arxiv = {arXiv:2606.17017}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {(Approximate) Symmetric Extension Complexity of the Spanning Tree Polytope}, date = {2026-06-15} } - Urbano, A., Romero, D. W., Zimmer, M., and Pokutta, S. (2026). Neural Field Tokenizations with Hierarchy and Spatial Locality Priors.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_UrbanoRomeroZimmerPokutta_Neuralfieldtokenization_2606-08204, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2606.08204}, arxiv = {arXiv:2606.08204}, primaryclass = {cs.LG}, author = {Urbano, Alonso and Romero, David W. and Zimmer, Max and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Neural Field Tokenizations with Hierarchy and Spatial Locality Priors}, date = {2026-06-06} } - Xu, L., Zhou, Y., and Pokutta, S. (2026). Agentic MIP Research: Accelerated Constraint Handler Generation.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_XuZhouPokutta_Agenticmip_2605-09186, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2605.09186}, arxiv = {arXiv:2605.09186}, primaryclass = {cs.AI}, author = {Xu, Liding and Zhou, Yugeng and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Agentic MIP Research: Accelerated Constraint Handler Generation}, date = {2026-05-09} } - Zimmer, M., Pelleriti, N., Roux, C., and Pokutta, S. (2026). The Agentic Researcher: A Practical Guide to AI-Assisted Research in Mathematics and Machine Learning.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_ZimmerPelleritiRouxPokutta_Airesearchframework_2603-15914, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2603.15914}, arxiv = {arXiv:2603.15914}, primaryclass = {cs.LG}, author = {Zimmer, Max and Pelleriti, Nico and Roux, Christophe and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {The Agentic Researcher: A Practical Guide to AI-Assisted Research in Mathematics and Machine Learning}, date = {2026-03-16} } - Geiselmann, Z., Joswig, M., Kastner, L., Mundinger, K., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., Wack, M., and Zimmer, M. (2026). Limits of combinatorial patchworking.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_ZoeEtAl_Patchworkedcurves_2602-06888, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2602.06888}, arxiv = {arXiv:2602.06888}, primaryclass = {math.AG}, author = {Geiselmann, Zoe and Joswig, Michael and Kastner, Lars and Mundinger, Konrad and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Wack, Marcel and Zimmer, Max}, title = {Limits of combinatorial patchworking}, date = {2026-02-06} }
Conference contributions
- Pokutta, S. Frank-Wolfe Beyond 1/t Convergence. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 39.
To appear.
Associated with NeurIPS 2026.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2026_Pokutta_Localdualsharpness_2604-28006, booktitle = {Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems}, series = {Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems}, volume = {39}, publisher = {Curran Associates}, note = {To appear}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2604.28006}, arxiv = {arXiv:2604.28006}, primaryclass = {math.OC}, author = {Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Frank-Wolfe Beyond 1/t Convergence} } - Parczyk, O., and Spiegel, C. (2027). An Unsure Note on an Un-Schur Problem. Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory VII: CANT, New York, USA, 2024 and 2025, 557.
To appear.
Associated with CANT 2025.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2024_ParczykSpiegel_UnSchur:1, year = {2027}, booktitle = {Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory VII: CANT, New York, USA, 2024 and 2025}, series = {Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics}, volume = {557}, publisher = {Springer Science+Business Media}, note = {To appear}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2410.22024}, arxiv = {arXiv:2410.22024}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Parczyk, Olaf and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {An Unsure Note on an Un-Schur Problem} } - Geiselmann, Z., Joswig, M., Kastner, L., Mundinger, K., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., Wack, M., and Zimmer, M. (2027). Fast Isotopy Computation for T-Curves. Mathematical Software – ICMS 2026, 16677.
To appear.
Associated with ICMS 2026.
[URL]
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2026_ZoeEtAl_Isotopytcurves_2604-09221, year = {2027}, booktitle = {Mathematical Software – ICMS 2026}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {16677}, publisher = {Springer Science+Business Media}, note = {To appear}, url = {https://icms-conference.org/2026/papers/paper32/main.pdf}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2604.09221}, arxiv = {arXiv:2604.09221}, primaryclass = {math.AG}, author = {Geiselmann, Zoe and Joswig, Michael and Kastner, Lars and Mundinger, Konrad and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Wack, Marcel and Zimmer, Max}, title = {Fast Isotopy Computation for T-Curves} } - Muhtar, D., Song, X., Pokutta, S., Zimmer, M., Pelleriti, N., Hofmann, T., and Liu, S. (2026). When Does Sparsity Mitigate the Curse of Depth in LLMs. Proceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Machine Learning, 306.
Associated with ICML 2026.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2026_DilxatEtAl_Sparsitydepthllms_2603-15389, year = {2026}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Machine Learning}, series = {Proceedings of Machine Learning Research}, volume = {306}, month = jul, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2603.15389}, arxiv = {arXiv:2603.15389}, primaryclass = {cs.CL}, author = {Muhtar, Dilxat and Song, Xinyuan and Pokutta, Sebastian and Zimmer, Max and Pelleriti, Nico and Hofmann, Thomas and Liu, Shiwei}, title = {When Does Sparsity Mitigate the Curse of Depth in LLMs} } - Pelleriti, N., Nelaturu, S. H., Zhou, Z., Li, Z., Zimmer, M., Han, B., and Pokutta, S. (2026). What Do Evolutionary Coding Agents Evolve? Accepted at NeurIPS 2026 Workshop on Self-Evolving Diversity-Driven Search for Robust AI Systems.
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_PelleritiEtAl_Evotrace_2605-20086:1, howpublished = {Accepted at NeurIPS 2026 Workshop on Self-Evolving Diversity-Driven Search for Robust AI Systems}, year = {2026}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2605.20086}, arxiv = {arXiv:2605.20086}, primaryclass = {cs.NE}, author = {Pelleriti, Nico and Nelaturu, Sree Harsha and Zhou, Zhanke and Li, Zongze and Zimmer, Max and Han, Bo and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {What Do Evolutionary Coding Agents Evolve?} } - Pelleriti, N., Mundinger, K., Zimmer, M., and Pokutta, S. (2026). Zero: A Meta-Agent for Mathematical Research. Accepted at The Sixth Workshop on Mathematical Reasoning and AI @ NeurIPS 2026.
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_PelleritiMundingerZimmerPokutta_Zero, howpublished = {Accepted at The Sixth Workshop on Mathematical Reasoning and AI @ NeurIPS 2026}, year = {2026}, author = {Pelleriti, Nico and Mundinger, Konrad and Zimmer, Max and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Zero: A Meta-Agent for Mathematical Research} } - Pelleriti, N., Mundinger, K., Zimmer, M., and Pokutta, S. (2026). Zero: A Meta-Agent for Mathematical Research. Accepted at First Workshop on Meta Agents: Managing Agents That Manage Agents @ NeurIPS 2026.
[BibTeX]
@misc{2026_PelleritiMundingerZimmerPokutta_Zero:1, howpublished = {Accepted at First Workshop on Meta Agents: Managing Agents That Manage Agents @ NeurIPS 2026}, year = {2026}, author = {Pelleriti, Nico and Mundinger, Konrad and Zimmer, Max and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Zero: A Meta-Agent for Mathematical Research} } - Mundinger, K., Zimmer, M., Kiem, A., Spiegel, C., and Pokutta, S. (2025). Neural Discovery in Mathematics: Do Machines Dream of Colored Planes? Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Machine Learning, 267, 45236–45255.
Associated with ICML 2025.
[URL]
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2025_MundingerZimmerKiemSpiegelPokutta_NeuralDiscovery, year = {2025}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Machine Learning}, series = {Proceedings of Machine Learning Research}, volume = {267}, month = jul, pages = {45236--45255}, url = {https://proceedings.mlr.press/v267/mundinger25a.html}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2501.18527}, arxiv = {arXiv:2501.18527}, primaryclass = {cs.LG}, author = {Mundinger, Konrad and Zimmer, Max and Kiem, Aldo and Spiegel, Christoph and Pokutta, Sebastian}, title = {Neural Discovery in Mathematics: Do Machines Dream of Colored Planes?} } - Kiem, A., Pokutta, S., and Spiegel, C. (2024). The Four-Color Ramsey Multiplicity of Triangles. Discrete Mathematics Days 2024, 20, 13–18.
Associated with DMD 2024.
[URL]
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2023_KiemPokuttaSpiegel_4colorramsey:1, year = {2024}, booktitle = {Discrete Mathematics Days 2024}, series = {Obras Colectivas Ciencias}, volume = {20}, publisher = {Editorial Universidad de Alcalá}, pages = {13--18}, url = {https://dmd2024.web.uah.es/files/abstracts/paper_3.pdf}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2312.08049}, arxiv = {arXiv:2312.08049}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kiem, Aldo and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {The Four-Color Ramsey Multiplicity of Triangles}, code = {https://github.com/FordUniver/kps_trianglemult} } - Kiem, A., Pokutta, S., and Spiegel, C. (2024). Categorification of Flag Algebras. Discrete Mathematics Days 2024, 20, 259–264.
Associated with DMD 2024.
[URL]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2024_KiemPokuttaSpiegel_Categorificationflagalgebras, year = {2024}, booktitle = {Discrete Mathematics Days 2024}, series = {Obras Colectivas Ciencias}, volume = {20}, publisher = {Editorial Universidad de Alcalá}, pages = {259--264}, url = {https://dmd2024.web.uah.es/files/abstracts/paper_47.pdf}, author = {Kiem, Aldo and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {Categorification of Flag Algebras} } - Mundinger, K., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., and Zimmer, M. (2024). Extending the Continuum of Six-Colorings. Discrete Mathematics Days 2024, 20, 178–183.
Associated with DMD 2024.
[URL]
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2024_MundingerPokuttaSpiegelZimmer_SixcoloringsExpansion:1, year = {2024}, booktitle = {Discrete Mathematics Days 2024}, series = {Obras Colectivas Ciencias}, volume = {20}, publisher = {Editorial Universidad de Alcalá}, pages = {178--183}, url = {https://dmd2024.web.uah.es/files/abstracts/paper_27.pdf}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2404.05509}, arxiv = {arXiv:2404.05509}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Mundinger, Konrad and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Zimmer, Max}, title = {Extending the Continuum of Six-Colorings} } - Parczyk, O., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., and Szabó, T. (2023). Fully Computer-Assisted Proofs in Extremal Combinatorics. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 37(10), 12482–12490.
Associated with AAAI 2023.
DOI: 10.1609/aaai.v37i10.26470
[URL]
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@article{2022_ParczykPokuttaSpiegelSzabo_Ramseymultiplicityheuristics:2, year = {2023}, date = {2023-06-26}, journal = {Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence}, volume = {37}, number = {10}, month = jun, pages = {12482--12490}, doi = {10.1609/aaai.v37i10.26470}, url = {https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AAAI/article/view/26470}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2206.04036}, arxiv = {arXiv:2206.04036}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Parczyk, Olaf and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {Fully Computer-Assisted Proofs in Extremal Combinatorics}, code = {https://zenodo.org/record/6602512#.YyvFhi8Rr5g} } - Rué, J., and Spiegel, C. (2023). The Rado Multiplicity Problem in Vector Spaces over Finite Fields. Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Applications (EUROCOMB’23), 784–789.
Associated with EUROCOMB 2023.
DOI: 10.5817/CZ.MUNI.EUROCOMB23-108
[URL]
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2023_RueSpiegel_Radomultiplicity:1, year = {2023}, date = {2023-08-28}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Applications (EUROCOMB'23)}, publisher = {Masaryk University Press}, pages = {784--789}, doi = {10.5817/CZ.MUNI.EUROCOMB23-108}, url = {https://journals.muni.cz/eurocomb/article/view/35642}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2304.00400}, arxiv = {arXiv:2304.00400}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Rué, Juanjo and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {The Rado Multiplicity Problem in Vector Spaces over Finite Fields}, code = {https://github.com/FordUniver/rs_radomult_23} } - Parczyk, O., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., and Szabó, T. (2022). New Ramsey multiplicity bounds and search heuristics. Discrete Mathematics Days 2022, 263, 224–230.
Associated with DMD 2022.
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2022_ParczykPokuttaSpiegelSzabo_Ramseymultiplicityheuristics:1, year = {2022}, date = {2022-06-29}, booktitle = {Discrete Mathematics Days 2022}, series = {Difunde}, volume = {263}, publisher = {Editorial de la Universidad de Cantabria}, month = jun, pages = {224--230}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2206.04036}, arxiv = {arXiv:2206.04036}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Parczyk, Olaf and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {New Ramsey multiplicity bounds and search heuristics}, code = {https://zenodo.org/record/6602512#.YyvFhi8Rr5g} } - Böttcher, J., Parczyk, O., Sgueglia, A., and Skokan, J. (2021). The Square of a Hamilton Cycle in Randomly Perturbed Graphs. Extended Abstracts EuroComb 2021: European Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Applications, 14, 644–650.
Associated with EUROCOMB 2021.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-83823-2_103
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@inproceedings{2024_BoettcherAmedeoJozefParczyk_Hamiltoncycleperturbation:1, year = {2021}, booktitle = {Extended Abstracts EuroComb 2021: European Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Applications}, series = {Trends in Mathematics}, volume = {14}, publisher = {Birkhäuser}, pages = {644--650}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-83823-2_103}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2202.05215}, arxiv = {arXiv:2202.05215}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Böttcher, Julia and Parczyk, Olaf and Sgueglia, Amédeo and Skokan, Jozef}, title = {The Square of a Hamilton Cycle in Randomly Perturbed Graphs} } - Kusch, C., Rué, J., Spiegel, C., and Szabó, T. (2017). Random Strategies are Nearly Optimal for Generalized van der Waerden Games. Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics, 61, 789–795.
Associated with EUROCOMB 2017.
DOI: 10.1016/j.endm.2017.07.037
[URL]
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2017_KuschRueSpiegelSzabo_Uniformrandomstrategy:1, year = {2017}, date = {2017-08-01}, journal = {Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics}, volume = {61}, month = aug, pages = {789--795}, doi = {10.1016/j.endm.2017.07.037}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endm.2017.07.037}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {1711.07251}, arxiv = {arXiv:1711.07251}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kusch, Christopher and Rué, Juanjo and Spiegel, Christoph and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {Random Strategies are Nearly Optimal for Generalized van der Waerden Games} }
Articles, chapters and books
- Kiem, A., Pokutta, S., and Spiegel, C. (2026). The four-color Ramsey multiplicity of triangles. Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 179, 19–70.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jctb.2026.02.001
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@article{2023_KiemPokuttaSpiegel_4colorramsey, year = {2026}, journal = {Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B}, month = jul, volume = {179}, pages = {19--70}, doi = {10.1016/j.jctb.2026.02.001}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2312.08049}, arxiv = {arXiv:2312.08049}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kiem, Aldo and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {The four-color Ramsey multiplicity of triangles}, code = {https://github.com/FordUniver/kps_trianglemult} } - Rué, J., and Spiegel, C. (2026). The Rado multiplicity problem in vector spaces over finite fields. Finite Fields and Their Applications, 111, 102782.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ffa.2025.102782
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@article{2023_RueSpiegel_Radomultiplicity, year = {2026}, journal = {Finite Fields and Their Applications}, month = mar, volume = {111}, pages = {102782}, doi = {10.1016/j.ffa.2025.102782}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2304.00400}, arxiv = {arXiv:2304.00400}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Rué, Juanjo and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {The Rado multiplicity problem in vector spaces over finite fields}, code = {https://github.com/FordUniver/rs_radomult_23} } - Parczyk, O., and Spiegel, C. (2026). An Unsure Note on an Un-Schur Problem. Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, 33(1), P1.45.
DOI: 10.37236/13554
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2024_ParczykSpiegel_UnSchur, year = {2026}, date = {2026-03-13}, journal = {Electronic Journal of Combinatorics}, month = mar, volume = {33}, number = {1}, pages = {P1.45}, doi = {10.37236/13554}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2410.22024}, arxiv = {arXiv:2410.22024}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Parczyk, Olaf and Spiegel, Christoph}, title = {An Unsure Note on an Un-Schur Problem} } - Espuny Díaz, A., Gupta, P., Mergoni Cecchelli, D., Parczyk, O., and Sgueglia, A. (2026). Dirac’s Theorem for Graphs of Bounded Bandwidth. Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, 33(1), P1.21.
DOI: 10.37236/13474
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2024_AlbertoEtAl_Diractheorembandwidth, year = {2026}, journal = {Electronic Journal of Combinatorics}, volume = {33}, number = {1}, pages = {P1.21}, doi = {10.37236/13474}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2407.05889}, arxiv = {arXiv:2407.05889}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Espuny Díaz, Alberto and Gupta, Pranshu and Mergoni Cecchelli, Domenico and Parczyk, Olaf and Sgueglia, Amédeo}, title = {Dirac's Theorem for Graphs of Bounded Bandwidth} } - Parczyk, O., Rathke, S., and Szabó, T. (2026). The Maximum Diameter of 2-Dimensional Simplicial Complexes. Discrete & Computational Geometry.
DOI: 10.1007/s00454-026-00844-8
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2025_ParczykRathkeSzabo_Simplicialdiameter_2511-10144, year = {2026}, date = {2026-04-27}, journal = {Discrete & Computational Geometry}, doi = {10.1007/s00454-026-00844-8}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2511.10144}, arxiv = {arXiv:2511.10144}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Parczyk, Olaf and Rathke, Silas and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {The Maximum Diameter of 2-Dimensional Simplicial Complexes} } - Parczyk, O., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., and Szabó, T. (2025). New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics. Foundations of Computational Mathematics, 25(5), 1777–1814.
DOI: 10.1007/s10208-024-09675-6
[URL]
[arXiv]
[code]
[BibTeX]
@article{2022_ParczykPokuttaSpiegelSzabo_Ramseymultiplicityheuristics, year = {2025}, journal = {Foundations of Computational Mathematics}, month = oct, volume = {25}, number = {5}, pages = {1777--1814}, doi = {10.1007/s10208-024-09675-6}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10208-024-09675-6}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2206.04036}, arxiv = {arXiv:2206.04036}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Parczyk, Olaf and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {New Ramsey Multiplicity Bounds and Search Heuristics}, code = {https://zenodo.org/record/6602512#.YyvFhi8Rr5g} } - Illingworth, F., Lang, R., Müyesser, A., Parczyk, O., and Sgueglia, A. (2025). Spanning Spheres in Dirac Hypergraphs. Combinatorica, 45(4), 43.
DOI: 10.1007/s00493-025-00169-9
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2024_FreddieEtAl_Spanningspheresdirac, year = {2025}, journal = {Combinatorica}, month = aug, volume = {45}, number = {4}, pages = {43}, doi = {10.1007/s00493-025-00169-9}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2407.06275}, arxiv = {arXiv:2407.06275}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Illingworth, Freddie and Lang, Richard and Müyesser, Alp and Parczyk, Olaf and Sgueglia, Amédeo}, title = {Spanning Spheres in Dirac Hypergraphs} } - Mattos, L., Mergoni Cecchelli, D., and Parczyk, O. (2025). On Product Schur Triples in the Integers. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 39(2), 1082–1095.
DOI: 10.1137/24M1632875
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2023_MattosDomenicoParczyk_Productschurtriples, year = {2025}, journal = {SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics}, volume = {39}, number = {2}, pages = {1082--1095}, doi = {10.1137/24M1632875}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2311.18796}, arxiv = {arXiv:2311.18796}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Mattos, Letícia and Mergoni Cecchelli, Domenico and Parczyk, Olaf}, title = {On Product Schur Triples in the Integers} } - Mundinger, K., Pokutta, S., Spiegel, C., and Zimmer, M. (2024). Extending the Continuum of Six-Colorings. Geombinatorics, XXXIV(1), 20–29.
[URL]
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2024_MundingerPokuttaSpiegelZimmer_SixcoloringsExpansion, year = {2024}, date = {2024-07-01}, journal = {Geombinatorics}, month = jul, volume = {XXXIV}, number = {1}, pages = {20--29}, url = {https://geombina.uccs.edu/past-issues/volume-xxxiv}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2404.05509}, arxiv = {arXiv:2404.05509}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Mundinger, Konrad and Pokutta, Sebastian and Spiegel, Christoph and Zimmer, Max}, title = {Extending the Continuum of Six-Colorings} } - Böttcher, J., Parczyk, O., Sgueglia, A., and Skokan, J. (2024). The square of a Hamilton cycle in randomly perturbed graphs. Random Structures & Algorithms, 65(2), 342–386.
DOI: 10.1002/rsa.21215
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2024_BoettcherAmedeoJozefParczyk_Hamiltoncycleperturbation, year = {2024}, journal = {Random Structures & Algorithms}, volume = {65}, number = {2}, pages = {342--386}, doi = {10.1002/rsa.21215}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {2202.05215}, arxiv = {arXiv:2202.05215}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Böttcher, Julia and Parczyk, Olaf and Sgueglia, Amédeo and Skokan, Jozef}, title = {The square of a Hamilton cycle in randomly perturbed graphs} } - Kusch, C., Rué, J., Spiegel, C., and Szabó, T. (2019). On the optimality of the uniform random strategy. Random Structures & Algorithms, 55(2), 371–401.
DOI: 10.1002/rsa.20829
[URL]
[arXiv]
[BibTeX]
@article{2017_KuschRueSpiegelSzabo_Uniformrandomstrategy, year = {2019}, journal = {Random Structures & Algorithms}, month = sep, volume = {55}, number = {2}, pages = {371--401}, doi = {10.1002/rsa.20829}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rsa.20829}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {1711.07251}, arxiv = {arXiv:1711.07251}, primaryclass = {math.CO}, author = {Kusch, Christopher and Rué, Juanjo and Spiegel, Christoph and Szabó, Tibor}, title = {On the optimality of the uniform random strategy} }
Projects
Ongoing Projects
This project aims to develop agentic AI systems for mathematical research: autonomous discovery of patterns and conjectures, design and execution of computational experiments, and integration with formal verification tools.
This project aims to apply neural generative models to real plane algebraic curves to advance the classification of M-curves, a problem from Hilbert's 16th problem that remains open for degree ≥8.
Completed Projects
Formal proof verification can both ensure proof correctness and provide new tools and insights to mathematicians. The goals of this project include creating resources for students and researchers, verifying relevant results, improving proof tactics, and exploring Machine Learning approaches.
This project aims to obtain new bounds in Extremal Combinatorics through an application of flag algebras. The goal is to both improve the underlying computational aspects for existing problems as well as to further develop the theory of flag algebras to extend it to new areas of application.
Extremal Combinatorics focuses on the maximum or minimum sizes of discrete structures with specific properties, posing significant challenges due to their complexity. Traditional computational approaches often fail due to exponential growth in search spaces, but recent AI advancements, especially in Reinforcement Learning, offer new potential. Applying these AI methods could provide insights into combinatorial problems while also enhancing the understanding of AI techniques in complex, sparse reward environments.








