Kisun Lee
BK 21 Research Professor
Department of Mathematical Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST)
Research interests
- Symbolic and numerical computation; homotopy continuation and numerical certification
- Certified computation in algebraic geometry; computer assisted proof in algebraic geometry
- Polyhedral and tropical geometry; tensor rank problems
Academic Background
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Clemson University, 2023-2026
- SEW Visiting Assistant Professor, UC San Diego, 2020-2023
- Ph.D. in Mathematics, Georgia Tech, 2015-2020 - Advisor: Anton Leykin
I am currently on the job market.
Research
Preprints
- Rigid homotopies for sampling from algebraic varieties: a Waring structure complexity model (with A. R. Jones & J. I. Rodriguez)
preprint. - Certifying Galois/monodromy actions via homotopy graphs (with T. Duff)
preprint.
(GitHub repo) - Asymptotic rank bounds: a numerical census
preprint.
(slides) - A priori bounds for certified Krawczyk homotopy tracking
preprint (Accepted at MEGA 2026 for presentation).
Publications
- Certified surface approximations using the interval Krawczyk test (with M. Burr & J. D. Hauenstein)
In Proceedings of the ISSAC 2026. (2026) pp 77-86.
(slides), (arxiv) - Certified algebraic curve projections by path tracking (with M. Burr & M. Byrd)
In Proceedings of the ISSAC 2025. (2025) pp 87-96.
(slides), (arxiv) - The tropical variety of symmetric rank 2 matrices (with M. Cai & J. Yu)
Linear Algebra and its Applications. 720 (1) (2025) pp 50-71.
(slides), (video), (arxiv) - Effective alpha theory certification using interval arithmetic: alpha theory over regions
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (In Proceedings of the ICMS 2024). 14749 (2024) pp 275-284.
(arxiv) - Certified homotopy tracking using the Krawczyk method (with T. Duff)
In Proceedings of the ISSAC 2024. (2024) pp 274-282.
(slides), (video), (arxiv) - Implementing real polyhedral homotopy (with J. Lindberg & J. I. Rodriguez)
Journal of Software for Algebra and Geometry. 14 (1) (2024) pp 59-71.
(GitHub repo), (arxiv) - Two-step Newton's method for deflation-one singular zeros of analytic systems (with N. Li & L. Zhi)
Journal of Symbolic Computation. 123 (2024) 102278.
(arxiv) - Isolating clusters of zeros of analytic systems using arbitrary-degree inflation (with M. Burr & A. Leykin)
In Proceedings of the ISSAC 2023. (2023) pp 126-134.
(slides), (arxiv) - On the polyhedral homotopy method for solving generalized Nash equilibrium problems of polynomials (with X. Tang)
Journal of Scientific Computing. 95 (1) (2023) no. 13.
(slides), (video), (arxiv) - Homotopy techniques for analytic combinatorics in several variables (with S. Melczer & J. Smolčić)
In Proceedings of the SYNASC 2022. (2022) pp 27-34.
(GitHub repo), (slides), (arxiv) - Typical ranks in symmetric matrix completion (with D. I. Bernstein & G. Blekherman)
Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra. 225 (2021) no. 7, 106603.
(poster), (arxiv) - Certifying approximate solutions to polynomial systems on Macaulay2
ACM Communications in Computer Algebra. 53 (2019) no. 2, pp 45-48.
(software), (slides) - Effective certification of approximate solutions to systems of equations involving analytic functions (with M. Burr & A. Leykin)
In Proceedings of the ISSAC 2019. (2019) pp 267-274.
(GitHub repo), (poster), (slides), (arxiv) - Solving polynomial systems via homotopy continuation and monodromy (with T. Duff, C. Hill, A. N. Jensen, A. Leykin & J. Sommars)
IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis. 39 (2019) no. 3, pp 1421-1446.
(arxiv) - The dimension of magic squares over fields of characteristics two and three (with W. Jung, J. L. Kim & Y. Kim)
Linear Algebra and its Applications. 472 (2015) pp 118-134.
Thesis
Thesis: Finding and certifying numerical roots of systems of equations.Teaching
- Instructor / KAIST / MAS102 Calculus II / Fall 2026
- Instructor / Clemson University / Math4130 Algebra II / Spring 2025
(Sample Lecture Video) - Instructor / Clemson University / Math4120 Algebra I / Fall 2024
- Instructor / Clemson University / Math3110 Linear Algebra / Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026
(Sample Lecture Video) - Instructor / Clemson University / Math1020 Business Calculus I / Fall 2023
- Instructor / UC San Diego / Math20D Introduction to Differential Equations / Winter 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Lecture Slides), (Sample Lecture Video) - Instructor / UC San Diego / Math20C Calculus & Analytic Geometry For Science & Engineering / Fall 2021, Spring 2022
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Lecture Note) - Instructor / UC San Diego / Math10C Calculus III / Winter 2021, Spring 2021
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Lecture Note), (Sample Lecture Video) - Instructor / UC San Diego / Math103A Modern Algebra I / Fall 2020
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Quiz), (Sample Homework), (Sample Lecture Note) - Instructor / Georgia Tech / Math1711 Finite Mathematics / Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Quiz), (Sample Lecture Note), (Outstanding TA Award 2020) - Instructor / Georgia Tech / Math1552 Integral Calculus / Summer 2019
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Quiz), (Sample Lecture Note), (Sample Worksheet) - Instructor / Georgia Tech / Math1555 Calculus for Biology / Spring 2018
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Quiz), (Sample Lecture Note) - Instructor / Georgia Tech / Math1551 Differential Calculus / Fall 2017, Summer 2018
(Sample Syllabus), (Sample Midterm), (Sample Quiz), (Sample Lecture Note) - Graduate TA / Georgia Tech / Math2552 Differential Equation / Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Summer 2017
- Graduate LA / Georgia Tech / Math1553 Introduction of Linear Algebra / Fall 2015
Activities
Upcoming
- Algebraic Geometry: New Frontiers in Computation and Application (IASM-BIRS workshops 27w5771) (2027, Hangzhou, China)
- Sampling and Data in Algebraic Geometry (2027, Providence, RI, USA)
- Numerical Algebraic Geometry and Correlated Electrons: Generalized Grassmannians, Response Functions and Excited States (2027, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
- Joint Mathematics Meetings 2027 (2027, Chicago, IL, USA)
Elsewhere
Federico Ardila's axioms: a foundation for mathematical, educational, and outreach efforts.
Past activities
- JuliaCon 2026 (2026, Mainz, Germany)
- International Congress on Mathematical Software 2026 (2026, Waterloo, ON, Canada)
- The International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation 2026 (ISSAC) (2026, Oldenburg, Germany)
- Effective Methods in Algebraic Geometry (MEGA) 2026 (2026, Durham, UK)
- Warwick Macaulay2 Workshop (2026, Warwick, UK)
- The Future of Macaulay2 (2026, Atlanta, GA, USA)
- Meeting on Applied Algebraic Geometry (2026, Clemson, SC, USA)
- AMS Spring Southeastern Sectional Meeting at Georgia Southern University (2026, Savannah, GA, USA)
- Joint Mathematics Meetings 2026 (2026, Washington, D.C., USA)
- AMS Fall Central Sectional Meeting at Saint Louis University (2025, St. Louis, MO, USA)
- SIAM Conference on Applied Algebraic Geometry (AG25) (2025, Madison, WI, USA)
- Macaulay2 Workshop: Madison 2025 (2025, Madison, WI, USA)
- AMS Mathematic Research Communities: Real Numerical Algebraic Geometry (2025, Providence, RI, USA)
- Meeting on Applied Algebraic Geometry (2025, Auburn, AL, USA)
- Matroids, Rigidity, and Algebraic Statistics (2025, Providence, RI, USA)
- AMS Spring Southeastern Sectional Meeting at Clemson University (2025, Clemson, SC, USA)
- Applied Algebra Seminar at University of Wisconsin - Madison (2025, Madison, WI, USA)
- Joint Mathematics Meetings 2025 (2025, Seattle, WA, USA)
- 2024 Symposium in Algebraic Geometry (2024, Busan, South Korea)
- AMS Fall Southeastern Sectional Meeting at Georgia Southern University (2024, Savannah, GA, USA)
- 2024 Workshop on (Mostly) Matroids (2024, Daejeon, South Korea)
- International Congress on Mathematical Software 2024 (2024, Durham, UK)
- The International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation 2024 (ISSAC) (2024, Raleigh, NC, USA)
- Discrete Math Seminar at IBS Discrete Mathematics Group (DIMAG) (2024, Daejeon, South Korea)
- Seminar at Sogang University (2024, Seoul, South Korea)
- Algebraic Geometry Seminar at IBS Center for Complex Geometry (CCG) (2024, Daejeon, South Korea)
- KIAS HCMC Algebraic Geometry Seminar (2024, Seoul, South Korea)
- Workshop on Computational and Applied Enumerative Geometry (2024, Toronto, ON, Canada)
- AMS Spring Central Sectional Meeting at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2024, Milwaukee, WI, USA)
- MATH for all Satellite Conference in Clemson (2024, Clemson, SC, USA)
- AMS Spring Southeastern Sectional Meeting at Florida State University (2024, Tallahassee, FL, USA)
- Georgia Tech Algebra Seminar (2023, Atlanta, GA, USA)
- Joint CUNY/Courant/NCSU Seminar in Symbolic-Numeric Computing (2023, New York, NY, USA) (Virtual)
- Tensor and Geometry with Application Mini Workshop (2023, Daejeon, South Korea)
- The International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation 2023 (ISSAC) (2023, Tromsø, Norway)
- SIAM Conference on Applied Algebraic Geometry (AG23) (2023, Eindhoven, Netherlands)
- SIAM Conference on Optimization (OP23) (2023, Seattle, WA, USA)
- Meeting on Applied Algebraic Geometry (2023, Atlanta, GA, USA)
- Joint Mathematics Meetings 2023 (2023, Boston, MA, USA)
- SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Data Science (MDS22) (2022, San Diego, CA)
- International Symposium on Symbolic and Numeric Algorithms for Scientific Computing 2022 (2022, Linz, Austria) (Virtual)
- CCAAGS 2022 (2022, Seattle, WA, USA)
- M2 @ CSU workshop (2022, Cleveland, OH, USA)
- AMA Colloquium Series on Young Scholars in Optimization and Data Science (2022, Hong Kong) (Virtual)
- Joint Mathematics Meetings 2022 (2022, Seattle, WA, USA)
- UCSD Optimization and Data Science Seminar (2021, La Jolla, CA, USA)
- Real Polynomials : Counting and Stability (2021, Virtual)
- 2021 SIAM AG (2021, College Station, TX, USA) (Virtual)
- Algebraic Geometry Seminar at University of California San Diego (2021, La Jolla, CA, USA) (Virtual)
- AMS Spring Southeastern Sectional Meeting at University of Virginia (2020, Charlottesville, VA, USA) (Cancelled)
- Joint CUNY Graduate Center-Courant Seminar in Symbolic-Numeric Computing (2019, New York, NY, USA)
- Clemson University Algebra and Discrete Mathematics Seminar (2019, Clemson, SC, USA)
- 2019 ISSAC (Beijing, China)
- 2019 SIAM AG (Bern, Switzerland)
- 2019 Summer School on Randomness and Learning in Non-Linear Algebra (Leipzig, Germany)
- 2019 MEGA (Madrid, Spain)
- 2019 Meeting on Applied Algebraic Geometry (Atlanta, GA, USA)
- 2019 AMS Sectional Meeting (Auburn, AL, USA)
- 2018 Fall ICERM Nonlinear algebra (Providence, RI, USA)
- 2018 Summer School on Hyperbolic Polynomials, Sums of Squares and Optimization (Atlanta, GA, USA)
- 2018 Meeting on Applied Algebraic Geometry (Atlanta, GA, USA)
- 2018 GAGS: The Georgia Algebraic Geometry Symposium (Atlanta, GA, USA)
- 2017 SIAM AG (Atlanta, GA, USA)