CMIT | Pi Week - Talk Series, 3rd April 2026

Title: Algebra Powers Computation

Speaker: Professor Nitin Saxena, N Rama Rao Chair Professor, Department of Engineering and Computer Science, IIT Kanpur, (online)

Time & Date:3rd April 2026 Friday, 9 pm onwards

Abstract:Modern economies run on algorithms; and algebra is a natural ally in algorithm design. I work on the mathematics that goes inside algorithms. My results fall in two broad categories--- algebraic circuit properties, and fast algorithms for algebra questions. In algebraic circuit theory, I'll motivate the ideas of zero-testing, geometry in identities, bootstrapping/duality in circuits, and approximation. Among the algebraic algorithms developed, I'll motivate those related to--- primality testing, algebraic dependence, Newton iteration, factoring, approximative roots, and Zeta functions.