I am Thanh Le (Lê Viết Lưu Thanh), a Math PhD Candiate at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (expected May 2027). I completed my MS in Math at UNL in 2023, and BS in Computer Science and Math at Fairfield University in 2022.
You can contact me via email: tle51[at]huskers[dot]unl[dot]edu
Research
I am fortunate to be co-advised by Dr. Xavier Pérez Giménez and Dr. Vinod Variyam. I am funded by Vinod to as a Graduate Research Assistant (since Spring 2025).
Research Interests:
- Theory of deep learning: expressive power of transformers and chain-of-thought (CoT) reasoning
- AI safety and alignment
- Probabilistic combinatorics: random graph theory
- Applied AI: computer vision
Papers and Manuscripts:
- Thanh Le, A. Pavan, and N. V. Vinodchandran. A Tight Hierarchy for Chain of Thought. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), 2026. To appear.
- Thanh Le, A. Pavan, Xavier Pérez-Giménez, and N. V. Vinodchandran. Cliques, Quasi-Cliques, and Bicliques in Random Graphs: Sampling and Algorithms. Submitted, 2026.
- Derek DeBlieck, Thanh Le, and Xavier Pérez-Giménez. Hamilton cycles with a periodic pattern in random digraphs with minimum total degree at least 2. In preparation, 2026.
News/Plans
Upcoming
[Dec. 2026] I am attending NeurIPS 2026, venue tbd.
[Oct. 8-10, 2026] I am attending Probabilistic combinatorics at Rutgers.
Past news
[Aug. 2026] I completed my computer vision research internship at Ocuvera!
[May 2026] I attended Recent Developments in Discrete Probability.
[Mar. 2026] I gave a talk on Hamilton cycles in random digraphs at GSCC 2026.
Teaching
Instructor of Record
- MATH 103: College Algebra and Trigonometry (Fall 2024, at UNL)
- MATH 101: College Algebra (Fall 2023, Spring 2024, at UNL)
Teaching Assistant
- MATH 107: Calculus II (recitation leader) (Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, at UNL)
- Machine Learning (Spring 2022, at Fairfield University)
- Theory of Programming Languages (Fall 2021, at Fairfield University)
Honors
- Haight Internship Fellowship (UNL, 2026)
- Lloyd Jackson Award (UNL, 2024, awarded based on scholarship)
- Math Department’s Outstanding Qualifying Exam (UNL, 2023)
- Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics (Fairfield University, 2022)
- Putnam Math Competition 2021: ranked 193rd out of 2975 participants
- Vietnam Mathematical Olympiad 2017: Third Prize
- Media Coverage: VnExpress (2018)
Other Stuff
- My hobbies: soccer, reading, chess.
(site last updated in Sep. 2026)