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 March 2026)

Research

I am co-advised by Dr. Xavier Pérez Giménez and Dr. Vinod Variyam. I am fortunate to be funded by Dr. Variyam to be his Graduate Research Assistant (since Spring 2025).

My current research topics are:

• Probabilistic Combinatorics:
  • Thresholds for Hamitonicity in directed random graphs with some degree conditions. In preparation.
  • Maximum clique problem in Erdos-Renyi random graph ($G_{n,p}$).
• Deep Learning:
  • 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

• Summer 2026: I will be a Machine Learning Engineer Intern at Ocuvera.
• May 2-3, 2026: I am attending Lake Michigan Workshop 2026 at University of Notre Dame.
• March 27-29, 2026: I am attending GSCC 2026 at UIC. Please say hi!
  • I am giving a talk tilted “Hamilton cycle with a periodic pattern in random digraphs with minimum total degree at least 2.”

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

• Co-organizer of UNL’s Discrete Seminar (DisCo) (Fall 2025 and Spring 2026)
• 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)

Past Talks:

• “On the existence of Hamilton cycles with a periodic pattern in a random digraph with degree at least 2” (UNL Discrete Seminar, May 2025).
• “Thresholds in random graphs and the Kahn-Kalai Conjecture” (UNL Discrete Seminar, November 2024)

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, Reading. I am reading “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”

Micellaneous cool stuff:

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