Ryan Williams
Assistant Professor (Click on the dots to get my email.) Ph.D. 2007, Carnegie Mellon University Previously I was in the Theory Group at IBM Almaden, supported by the Josef Raviv Fellowship. Before that I was a member of the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. |
Teaching in Spring 2013: CS266 -- Parameterized Algorithms and Complexity |
Academic:
Past Teaching at Stanford:
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Research InterestsMy primary focus is in algorithm design and complexity theory, and connections between the two subjects. I think about a lot of questions, but a few of them haunt me more than others. Can the existence of an algorithm for a problem be used to prove that other algorithms cannot exist? Can the nonexistence of algorithms be used to prove that another algorithm correctly solves a problem? (In fact, there are "yes" answers to both questions.) Does every function implementable with a low memory footprint also have a fast implementation? (Is P = PSPACE?) Could computers themselves help us make progress on answering these questions?About MeI grew up near the big city of Somerville, Alabama, where there is good fishing in the water and good football on the radio. Further south in Alabama there is a good school for math and science. |