Sam Zhang's Homepage

My research combines my love of mathematics with my desire for a more just world. I work at that intersection as an Applied Complexity postdoc at the Santa Fe Institute, and starting in Fall 2025, as an Assistant Professor of Statistics affiliated with the Vermont Complex Systems Institute at the University of Vermont.

I received my PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder, advised by Aaron Clauset. During my PhD, I worked as a PhD research intern with the MSR NYC Computational Social Science group and the Human Rights Data Analysis Group.

my email is shimian dot my last name at gmail.com

More about me here.

Pronouns: he/him.
Link to CV
Google Scholar
Github
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Upcoming
News
Publications
Also see [CV] or [Google Scholar].
‡ indicates alphabetical authorship.
  1. S. Zhang, P.R. Heck, M.N. Myers, C.F. Chabris, D.G. Goldstein, & J.M. Hofman. PNAS, 120(33): e2302491120 (2023).
  2. S. Zhang, N. LaBerge, S.F. Way, D.B. Larremore, & A. Clauset. Submitted (2023).
  3. S. Zhang, K.H. Wapman, D.B. Larremore, & A. Clauset. Science Advances, 8(46) (2022).
  4. M. D. Hardy, S. Zhang, J. Hullman, J. M. Hofman, D. G. Goldstein. International Journal of Forecasting (2024).
  5. Matthew W Bhagat-Conway, S. Zhang. PLOS ONE, 18(9): e0290534 (2023).
  6. Rayna Benzeev, S. Zhang, Marcelo Rauber, Eric A Vance, Peter Newton. PNAS Nexus, 2: pgac287 (2023).
  7. Katie Spoon, Nicholas LaBerge, K Hunter Wapman, S. Zhang, Allison C Morgan, Mirta Galesic, Daniel B Larremore, Aaron Clauset. Science Advances, 9(42) (2023).
  8. K.H. Wapman, S. Zhang, A. Clauset, & D.B. Larremore. Nature, 610(7930): 120-127 (2022).
  9. Weihua Li, S. Zhang, Zhiming Zheng, Skyler J Cranmer, Aaron Clauset. Nature Communications, 13: 4907 (2022).
  10. Nicholas LaBerge, K Hunter Wapman, Allison C Morgan, S. Zhang, Daniel B Larremore, Aaron Clauset. Communications of the ACM, 65(12): 46-55 (2022).
  11. Satyan L Devadoss, Matthew S Harvey, S. Zhang. 38th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2022).
  12. Daniel B Larremore, Bailey K Fosdick, S. Zhang, Yonatan H Grad. Epidemics, 41 (2022).
  13. Daniel B Larremore, Bailey K Fosdick, Kate M Bubar, S. Zhang, Stephen M Kissler, C Jessica E Metcalf, Caroline O Buckee, Yonatan H Grad. eLife, 10: e64206 (2021).
    14. [+] Show more publications
Visualizations
I was drawn to study math because I found it to be beautiful. I hope I can share some of that beauty through these interactive visualizations. I made many of these visualizations to learn the concepts myself, but occasionally they are also part of larger projects. Note: many of these visualizations only work on desktop.
An illusion of predictability in scientific results
Even experts think / that well-estimated means / are certain outcomes. (Haiku summary due to MSR poets Dan and Jake). Click the thumbnail for a mini-explainer.
An illusion of predictability in scientific results
Sam Zhang, Patrick R Heck, Michelle Meyer, Christopher F Chabris, Daniel G Goldstein, Jake M Hofman     PNAS, 2023 [paper]
[link] [source]
Elliptic curves and traveling wave solutions to the KdV equations
View traveling wave solutions to the KdV equations associated with (points of) elliptic curves.
[link] [source]
Ridge unfolding polytopes
Unfold 4-dimensional polytopes using their spanning trees.
Visualizing and unfolding nets of 4-polytopes
Satyan L Devadoss, Matthew S Harvey, Sam Zhang     SoCG, 2022 [paper]
[link] [source]
Bayesian inference for COVID-19 testing
My brief foray into epidemiology at the start of COVID-19. Bayesian methods and interactive tools for informing COVID-19 surveillance testing strategies.
Estimating SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and epidemiological parameters with uncertainty from serological surveys
Daniel B Larremore, Bailey K Fosdick, Kate M Bubar, Sam Zhang, Stephen M Kissler, C Jessica E Metcalf, Caroline O Buckee, Yonatan H Grad     eLife, 2021 [paper]
Optimizing prevalence estimates for a novel pathogen by reducing uncertainty in test characteristics
Daniel B Larremore, Bailey K Fosdick, Sam Zhang, Yonatan H Grad     Epidemics, 2022 [paper]
[link] [link] [link] [link] [source]
Curve shortening
Deform a curve with a discrete curve shortening flow.
[link] [fullscreen] [source]
A catastrophe machine
Move the center of gravity of a wedge balancing on a table, and observe its corresponding catastrophe surface.
[link] [fullscreen] [source]
Linear regression, the old fashioned way
Perform ordinary least squares through a set of points with nails, springs, sleeves, and a frictionless rod.
[link] [fullscreen] [source]
A moduli space for triangles
A solution to a problem by Lewis Carroll using a clever moduli space. For fun, pick points on the moduli space, and watch triangles deform between them along geodesics.
[link] [fullscreen] [source]
The cross-section of a cylinder is an ellipse
A classical proof that the cross-section of a cylinder is an ellipse. I have no idea why, but this is the most popular blog post on my website.
[link] [fullscreen]
Whitney's Umbrella
First steps in visualizing 3d mathematics using javascript. A famous surface with a cuspidal point.
[link] [fullscreen]
Voronoizer bookmarklet
Draw a Voronoi diagram over any webpage with this bookmarklet.
[link] [source]
Voronoize this page!
This page has a Voronoi diagram drawn over it, with link and input HTML elements as points.
[link] [source]
Treasure hunting
You have been given flawed instructions for finding treasure on an island, but geometry may be able to help.
[link] [source]
An ascii implicit function plotter
Plot an elliptic curve (or any implicit function) using ASCII art!
[link] [source]
Hypocycloids
What happens if you rotate a smaller circle inside of a larger circle?
[link] [source]
Cats on ladders
A cat is sitting on a ladder leaning against the wall, and the ladder slips. What shape does the cat draw through the air?
[link] [source]
A network look at integer sequences
The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS) from a 10,000 foot view.
[link]
A visualization of a geometric bound on convex hulls
A lemma that bounds the size of a convex hull of points based off circles centered at those points.
[link] [source]
Building a municipal land use code search engine using a graph of word embeddings
Using the geometry of language to help permit-seekers find the right municipal land use codes.
[link]

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