Sam Zhang's Homepage

I am a postdoc at the Santa Fe Institute, working with Professor Cris Moore. In Fall 2025, I will be joining the Complex Systems Center at the University of Vermont as an Assistant Professor of Statistics.

My research focuses on understanding causality in complex systems, with the goal of illuminating the mechanisms that drive inequalities in our social world. I received my PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder, advised by Aaron Clauset.

Previously, I have worked as a researcher with the MSR NYC Computational Social Science group and the Human Rights Data Analysis Group. I have been recognized as a University of Chicago Rising Star in Data Science. Before my research career, I worked as a software consultant at Pivotal Labs, a software engineer at multiple startups, including one on a DARPA project, and as a Data Science for Social Good Fellow.

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

More about me here.

Pronouns: he/him.
Link to CV
Google Scholar
Github
mastodon - bluesky - twitter
Upcoming
  • 2025: I'll be giving a talk for a journal club at the Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University in January. Attending the Collective Social Phenomena: Dynamics and Data workshop at The Casa Matemática Oaxaca in June.
    • 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]

    blank - academic - github