About me

I am Thanh Le (Lê Viết Lưu Thanh), a Math PhD Candiate at UNL (expected graduation May 2027). Here is my LinkedIn.

Please contact me via email: tle51[at]huskers[dot]unl[dot]edu

I completed my MS in Math at UNL in 2023, and BS in CS and Math at Fairfield University in 2022.

(site last updated in May 2025)

Research

I am co-advised by Dr. Xavier Pérez Giménez and Dr. Vinod Variyam. My current research topics are:

  • Probabilistic Combinatorics (with Dr. Pérez Giménez): We have been working on a project about thresholds for Hamitonicity in directed random graphs with some degree conditions.
  • Deep Learning (mostly with Dr. Variyam’s team): We study what the theoretical capabilities and limitations of Transformers (a deep learning architecture). Typical papers in this research line include Hahn 2020, Strobl et al. 2024 (a survey).

Recent news

  • Fall 2025 and Spring 2026: I am co-organizing UNL’s Discrete Seminar (DisCo).
  • June 2025: I am attending SLMath’s summer school “Local Limits of Random Graph” at Paris-Saclay University, France
  • May 2025: I gave a talk in the Discrete Seminar (DisCo) of UNL’s Math department. The talk was titled “On the existence of Hamilton cycles with a periodic pattern in a random digraph with degree at least 2.”
  • April 2025: I attended Lake Michigan Workshop on Combinatorics and Graph Theory at UIC.

Teaching

Instructor of Record

  • Fall 2024: Math 103 (College Algebra and Trigonometry), 1 section, at UNL
  • Spring 2024: Math 101 (College Algebra), 1 section, at UNL
  • Fall 2023: Math 101 (College Algebra), 1 section, at UNL

Teaching Assistant

  • Summer 2023: Math 107 (Calculus II) recitation, 1 section, at UNL
  • Spring 2023: Math 107 (Calculus II) recitation, 2 sections, at UNL
  • Fall 2022: Math 107 (Calculus II) recitation, 2 sections, at UNL
  • Spring 2022: Machine Learning, at Fairfield University
  • Fall 2021: Theory of Programming Languages, at Fairfield University

Honors

  • Lloyd Jackson Award (UNL, 2024, awarded based on scholarship)
  • Math Department’s Outstanding Qualifying Exam (UNL, 2023)
  • Rank 193/2975 at Putnam Math Competition 2021
  • Third Prize at Vietnam Mathematical Olympiad 2017
  • Media Coverage: VnExpress (2018)

Outreach and Service

  • Mentor in UNL Math department’s Directed Reading Program (DRP) (Spring 2025)
  • Mentor in UNL Math department’s Graduate Student Mentor Program (2024-2025 school year): mentored a first-year grad student to help their transition into grad school
  • Ran the UNL Putnam Competition Study Seminars (together with 2 faculties, Fall 2024)
  • Volunteered at NCUWM, Math Day (at UNL, in 2023, 2024)
  • Built the website for Vietnam Math Modeling Contest (2021)
  • Taught Olympiad Math (Number Theory, Combinatorics) for high school students in Kon Tum, Vietnam (July 2020, July 2022)

Materials

  • UNL Putnam Seminar 2024: Here are some resources that I created: Proof by Contradiction, Induction, Extremal Heuristic. I did not write up solutions, but contact me if you want to know where to find solutions!
  • In Spring 2024, I had a reading course on the first 4 chapters of Probability: Theory and Examples by Rick Durrett. I wrote up some key concepts and a few exercises.

Other Stuff

My hobbies: Soccer, Writing. I maintain a little blog in Vietnamese here (Facebook page).

Micellaneous cool stuff:

  • This site was so easy to create, thanks to academicpages. No coding experience required, totally free - I highly recommend.