Harshit Jitendra Motwani

About Me

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS).

Email: hmotwani at mpi-sws.org

Research Interests:

I am broadly interested in Computational Algebraic Geometry, Formal Verification, and Tensors. A unifying theme across my research is the application of mathematics in discovering solutions to problems in both the natural and formal sciences.

During my PhD, I worked on Algebro-Geometric Algorithms for Program Synthesis, Tensor Networks, and Conditional Independence Models. More recently, as a postdoctoral researcher, I have been developing algorithms for Formal Methods, Artificial Intelligence, and Control Theory relying on techniques from Algebraic Geometry.

Education

PhD, Department of Mathematics: Algebra and Geometry,
Ghent University, Belgium, 2021-2023,

Thesis - Algebro-Geometric Algorithms for Program Synthesis, Tensor Networks, and Conditional Independence Models.

Bachelor of Science and Master of Science (Integrated), Mathematics and Computing,
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP), India, 2015-2020,

CGPA - 9.73/10,

Thesis - Conditional Independence Ideals via Groebner Basis.

Honours - Institute Silver Medal and Best Master’s Thesis Award.

Past Experience

Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS), Germany, 2024-Present.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong, 2023-2024.
Visiting Postgraduate Research Intern, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong, 2022-2023.
Visiting Research Student, Ghent University, Belgium, 2020-2021.
Undergraduate Research Intern, University of Bristol, U.K., 2019-2020.

Scholastic Achievements and Awards

IEEE Computer Society Larson Best Paper Award - 2023 - Best student paper award for "Algebro-geometric Algorithms for Template-based Synthesis of Polynomial Programs" presented at OOPSLA 2023.
ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Award - OOPSLA - 2023 - Distinguished paper award presented at OOPSLA 2023 for "Algebro-geometric Algorithms for Template-based Synthesis of Polynomial Programs".
HKUST Postdoctoral Matching Fund - 2023.
Young Researcher of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) - 2023.
Scientific Prize SofinaBoël Fellowship (2022-2023) - Visiting research fellowship to visit the Computer Science Department at HKUST, Hong Kong.
BOF PhD fellowship (2021-2025) - PhD fellowship awarded by Ghent University to about 50 students across all disciplines in the university.
Institute Silver Medal (2021) - For having the highest CGPA among the graduating batch of Mathematics and Computing at IIT Kharagpur.
Best Master's Project (2021) - For best project work among the graduating batch of Mathematics and Computing at IIT Kharagpur.
Institute-wide Top 10 Graduate - Graduated among the top 10 students across all departments at IIT Kharagpur (2015–2020), based on CGPA.
INSPIRE scholarship (2015-2020) - Scholarship awarded by the Government of India for clearing the Joint Entrance Exam-Advanced 2015 (JEE-Advanced 2015) and pursuing science at IIT Kharagpur.

Papers

LP-Based Weighted Model Integration over Non-Linear Real Arithmetic
with S. Akshay, Supratik Chakraborty, Soroush Farokhnia, Amir Goharshady, Djordje Zikelic
International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), 2025.
Quantified Linear and Polynomial Arithmetic Satisfiability via Template-based Skolemization
with Krishnendu Chatterjee, Ehsan Kafshdar Goharshady, Mehrdad Karrabi, Maximilian Seeliger, Djordje Zikelic
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 2025.
POQER – Practical Approximate Quantifier Elimination for Non-linear Real Arithmetic
with S. Akshay, Supratik Chakraborty, Amir Goharshady, R. Govind, Sai Teja Varanasi
International Symposium on Formal Methods (FM), 2024.
Faster Treewidth-based Algorithms for Wiener Index
with Amir Goharshady, Giovanna Kobus Conrado, Pavel Hudec, Pingjiang Li
Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA), 2024.
Automated Synthesis of Decision Lists for Polynomial Specifications over Integers
with S. Akshay, Supratik Chakraborty, Amir Goharshady, R. Govind, Sai Teja Varanasi
International Conference on Logic for Programming, Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning (LPAR), 2024.
Global Rigidity of Line Constrained Frameworks
with James Cruickshank, Fatemeh Mohammadi, Anthony Nixon, Shin-ichi Tanigawa
SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics (SIDMA), 2024.
Algebro-geometric Algorithms for Template-based Synthesis of Polynomial Programs
with Amir Goharshady, Fatemeh Mohammadi, Hitarth Singh
ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications (OOPSLA), 2023
ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Award, IEEE Computer Society Larson Best Paper Award.
Matroid Stratifications of Hypergraph Varieties, Their Realization Spaces, and Discrete Conditional Independence Models
with Oliver Clarke, Kevin Grace, Fatemeh Mohammadi
International Mathematics Research Notices (IMRN), 2023.
The Linear Span of Uniform Matrix Product States
with Claudia De Lazzari, Tim Seynnaeve
Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications (SIGMA), 2022.
The Leading Coefficient of Lascoux Polynomials
with Alessio Borzì, Xiangying Chen, Lorenzo Venturello, Martin Vodička
Discrete Mathematics, 2022.
Computing Maximum Likelihood Estimates for Gaussian Graphical Models with Macaulay2
with Carlos Amendola, Luis David Garcia Puente, Roser Homs, Olga Kuznetsova
Journal of Software for Algebra and Geometry (JSAG), 2022.
Conditional Probabilities via Line Arrangements and Point Configurations
with Oliver Clarke, Fatemeh Mohammadi
Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 2021.

Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Assistant - Complexity Theory, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Summer Semester 2025.
Guest Lecturer - COMP3711H - Honors Design and Analysis of Algorithms, HKUST, Hong Kong, Spring 2024.
Guest Lecturer - COMP4541 - Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts, HKUST, Hong Kong, Spring 2024.
Mentor of Apurva Rai for Bachelor's Project, Ghent University and IIT Kharagpur, 2021-2022.
Supervisor of David Avtandilov for Bachelor's Project, Ghent University, Spring 2021.
Teaching Assistant - Undergraduate Course - Modern Algebra, IIT Kharagpur, Spring 2019.
Teaching and Lab Assistant - Graduate Workshop - Gröbner Basis and its Applications, IIT Kharagpur, Autumn 2018.

Talks and Presentations

FM 2024 - Practical Approximate Quantifier Elimination for Non-linear Real Arithmetic.
SAT 2024 - Approximate Quantifier Elimination and Program Synthesis.
HIM - Trimester Program on Prospects of Formal Mathematics - Algebro-Geometric Algorithms for Formal Verification and Synthesis of Programs.
AGATES 2022 Kickoff Workshop - The Linear Span of uMPS - September 21, 2022.
Real Algebraic Geometry Reading Group - An invitation to real algebraic geometry - March 3, 2022.
AlCoVE 2021 - Poster on Conditional probabilities via line arrangements and point configurations.
MEGA 2021 - Computing Maximum Likelihood Estimates for Gaussian Graphical Models with Macaulay2.
Bristol Junior Algebra Colloquium - The Grassmann Cayley Algebra and its applications - April 30, 2021.
Ghent Toric Geometry Reading Group - Review of Affine Algebraic Geometry - February 1, 2021.

Software Contributions

Macaulay2 packages:
- GraphicalModelsMLE - a package for MLE of parameters for Gaussian graphical models.
- StatGraphs - a package for graphs used in statistical models.
- GraphicalModels - a package for discrete and Gaussian statistical graphical models.

Academic Service

Member of Program Committee: SETTA 2025 - Symposium on Dependable Software Engineering, UK.
Member of Program Committee: SETTA 2024 - Symposium on Dependable Software Engineering, Hong Kong.

Outreach and Mentorship

I have been privileged to learn from and be mentored by some of the most inspiring individuals in my field. Their support and guidance have played a pivotal role in shaping my academic journey and my decision to pursue research in science and mathematics.

In an effort to give back, I do my best to support young students in discovering their interests and passions and in navigating their academic and professional paths. In particular, I have mentored several undergraduate students in identifying their goals and pursuing careers in STEM research and beyond.

Organizational

Real Algebraic Geometry - Reading Seminar, Spring 2022.
Stochastic Processes and their Applications - Reading Seminar, Spring 2022.
Ghent Junior Algebra and Geometry Seminar, Spring 2021.
Ghent Toric Geometry Reading Seminar, Spring 2021.

Workshops and Conferences Attended

FM 2024 - 26th International Symposium on Formal Methods, Milan, Italy.
SAT 2024 - The 27th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing, Pune, India.
Trimester Program: Prospects of formal mathematics, Hausdorff Research Institute for Mathematics, University of Bonn, Germany, 2024.
Dagstuhl Seminar on Automated mathematics: integrating proofs, algorithms and data, Germany, 2023.
Young Researcher of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) - 2023, Heidelberg, Germany.
EPIT 2023 : Le Kaléidoscope de la Complexité - France - June 2023.
C3 - Consensus, Concurrency & Cryptography - NUS, Singapore - December 2022.
Algebraic Geometry with Applications to TEnsors and Secants (AGATES) - Warsaw, Poland - September 2022.
First Italian School in Geometric Deep Learning - Pescara, Italy - July 202.
Algorithmic and Enumerative Combinatorics - Vienna, Austria - July 2022.
Topics in Real and Tropical Algebraic Geometry - Nordfjordeid, Norway - June 2022.
Quantum Natural Language Processing - Oxford and Online - May 2022.
International School on Tropical Geometry - Valladolid, Spain - May 2022.
Masterclass: Tensor decompositions and their applications - University of Trento - November 2021.
Conference on Mathematics of Machine Learning: ZiF - August 2021.
Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry: LMS-Bath Symposium - August 2021.
Tensor Networks: Quantum Physics, Geometry and Applications - July 2021.
Minicourse on Convex Geometry - MPI Leipzig - July 2021.
AlCoVe: an Algebraic Combinatorics Virtual Expedition - June 2021.
MEGA - June 2021.
Workshop on Software and Applications of Numerical Nonlinear Algebra - June 2021.
Tensor Methods and Emerging Applications to the Physical and Data Sciences - IPAM - June 2021.
Graduate student meeting on Applied Algebra and Combinatorics, University of Copenhagen - April 2021.
Research Encounters in Algebraic and Combinatorial Topics (REACT) - February 2021.
Algebraic and Tropical Online Meetings (ATOM) - June 2020.
Warwick M2 Workshop - June 2020.
National Centre for Mathematics Workshop (NCMW), Commutative algebra and algebraic geometry in positive characteristics, IIT Bombay - December 2018.
Advanced Instructional School (AIS), Basic Algebraic Geometry, IISER Pune - July 2018.
Advanced Training in Mathematics Workshop (ATMW), Combinatorial Commutative Algebra, IIT Bombay - June 2018.
Advanced Instructional School (AIS), Groebner Basis and their Applications, IIIT Delhi - December 2017.

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