What Are You Working On? August 16, 2026

[u/Phytor_c]

Inspired by the recurring threads on r/math, we are starting our own weekly discussion thread!

 

This recurring thread will be for general discussion on whatever algorithm-related projects, problems, or topics you have been or will be working on this week. This can be anything, including:

* theoretical computer science and algorithm design,

* books, papers, or articles you are reading,

* coursework or self-study (what you have been learning recently),

* competitive programming or interview prep,

* preparing a talk, presentation, or project demo.

 

All backgrounds and levels of experience are welcomed!

[u/Magdaki]

I have several algorithm related research projects ongoing:

1 - An improvement to ant colony system.

2 - An improvement to particle swarm optimization.

3 - An examination of fractal decomposition.

4 - An improvement to deterministic computational model inference algorithm (an improvement to my own).

5 - An new algorithm for stochastic computational model inference.

6 - An examination of algorithmic characteristics for computational model inference under imperfect data conditions.

[u/Dark_Lord8506 → u/Magdaki]

Hey, I want to understand the 6th project if possible can I dm?

[u/Magdaki → u/Dark_Lord8506]

I don't do DMs, but you're more than welcome to ask any questions you have. Since this is active research, I maybe a bit limited in what I can say.

What I can about that one is this. My main line of research is computational model inference. In fact the improvements to ACS and PSO are being done towards being able to better solve model inference problems. Historically, the assumption in this research area has been that the observed data from which the model is being inferred is perfect. Which is to say, none is missing, and it has no errors. This is not realistic.

Imagine you are observing data from a generative process. Say a crack forming on a wall. You take a picture every 12 hours.

1 - You do not have any data from prior to the starting to take photos. So you inherently have some missing data.
2 - You cannot know if a process step happened sometime between two photos and you missed it. So you also have possible missing data.
3 - The data being observed will be noisy in different ways.

So how can you infer a model of crack formation under these conditions?

Well, I don't know. So I have a thesis student examining what makes this problem hard. Is it missing data? If so what kind of missing data is easy and what kind if hard? Is it noise? If so, then what kind of noise is easy and what kind is hard?

[u/david-1-1 → u/Magdaki]

I love this. Inspired by observation, you're probing into computation with limited information. Best of luck!

[u/pi_stuff]

Advent of Code, 2018, day 23. Finding the intersection of regions in 3D space.

[u/Scrimbibete]

Differentiable polygon packing

[u/2bigpigs]

Damn you guys work on fancy stuff. I guess I need to take what I get as a full time software engineer 😅

I need to figure out whether my query planning problem is actually hard enough to justify an external optimiser library or whether it can be solved with more classical techniques like divide & conquer or dynamic programming.

[u/Phytor_c]

Currently writing up a "simpler" analysis for an existing algorithm for a problem using a different technique/insight.

Writing it up though is trickier than I expected.

[u/2bigpigs → u/Phytor_c]

Did you try explaining it to a friend on a whiteboard?

[u/Phytor_c → u/2bigpigs]

Not particularly, right now I'm trying to write it up formally, so it's good enough for an arxiv preprint say. I'm basically trying to convince myself that it actually works and I haven't just fooled myself all this time. My first draft had a bit of holes and handwaving, I'm trying to patch them up rn.

I will probably be explaining it to my supervisor later this week.

[u/Future_Advice_4853 → u/Phytor_c]

for SOSA?

[u/Phytor_c → u/Future_Advice_4853]

Nope, the submission deadline for that has passed and I'd be happy with an arxiv manuscript