Helsinki Algorithms & Theory Days
28–29 Aug, 2025. Helsinki, Finland

About the event

Theory Days is an activity of HALT - Helsinki Algorithms and Theory that will bring together the theoretical computer science community in the Helsinki area.

The focus area of the event is theory and foundational research. Our main goal is to promote the sharing of ideas and potentially spark new collaborations. The event will include presentations by invited speakers from abroad as well as talks contributed by participating HALT research groups.

Invited speakers

  • Andris Ambainis, University of Latvia
  • Francesco d'Amore, Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI)

Attending the workshop

Registration will be made by each participant via a private form. The form link and more details will be sent via email around end of June.

If you would like to attend, please contact your nearest HALT group leader and ask them to share the registration link with you.

Registration is now closed.

Attendance will be free of charge for all participants, including coffee breaks, social event, and dinner. Kindly note that lunch will not be provided.

We acknowledge the generous funding by the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT) as well as the support of Profs. Chris Brzuska, Petteri Kaski, Barbara Keller, Sandor Kisfaludi-Bak, Russell W. F. Lai, Jukka Suomela, and Jara Uitto (Aalto University) and Prof. Mikko Koivisto (University of Helsinki).

Practical information

Dinner

The dinner on Friday will be served at Via Tribunali Katajanokka (Kruunuvuorenkatu 4) starting at 18:00. The dinner will also include an apéritif and a pour of wine or a beer during the meal.

Social event

The social event on Thursday 28th will be a guided tour of the international contemporary art event Helsinki Biennial on the Vallisaari island.

The ferry to the island departs from the Keisarinluodonlaituri pier at the Market Square at 15:30. We will head together there at 15:00 after the final talk of the day. The guided tour begins at 16:00 and will last approximately an hour. The ferry ticket is a group ticket, so we will have to come back from the island all together as a group.

Organizers

  • Melissa Antonelli, University of Helsinki
  • Massimo Equi, Aalto University
  • Tuomas Hakoniemi, University of Helsinki (co-chair)
  • Juha Harviainen, University of Helsinki
  • Augusto Modanese, Aalto University (co-chair)
  • Geert van Wordragen, Aalto University

Contact

For further questions please email Massimo Equi or Augusto Modanese.

Massimo Equi: firstname.lastname@aalto.fi

Augusto Modanese: firstname.lastname@aalto.fi

Venue

The workshop will take place in Fabianinkatu 24, Room 532, in the University of Helsinki downtown campus. This is the same venue that was used last year.

The room is located in the 5th floor of the building. Entrance via Fabianinkatu 24 A.


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Workshop schedule

Thursday, Aug 28th
9:30 Andris Ambainis (keynote). Quantum algorithms for search and optimization PPTX
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 Mikko Koivisto. Quantum Speedups for Bayesian Network Structure Learning PDF
11:30 Sándor Kisfaludi-Bak. Sub-quadratic diameter computation in (intersection) graphs of low VC-dimension PDF
12:00 Tuomas Hakoniemi. Polynomial Representations of Boolean Functions with Low-Depth Algebraic Circuits
12:30 Lunch break
14:00 Petteri Kaski. Invariant tensors and asymptotic rank of small tensors PDF
14:30 Antonio Cruciani. Fast Percolation Centrality Approximation with Importance Sampling PDF
15:00 Social event
Friday, Aug 29th
9:30 Jukka Suomela. Tutorial: A friendly introduction to distributed algorithms and locality PDF
10:00 Francesco d'Amore (invited talk). Distributed Algorithms for Local Potential Problems
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 Jukka Suomela. Distributed quantum advantage PDF
11:30 Xianbin Zhu. Multiparty Communication Models with Applications PDF
12:00 Duong Nguyen. Theory meets Practice: How to measure Homophily in Collaboration Networks
12:30 Lunch break
14:00 Chris Brzuska. Indistinguishability Obfuscation and its connections to Proof Complexity PDF
14:30 Russell W. F. Lai. How to Construct Indistinguishability Obfuscation? Part I PDF
15:00 Ivy K. Y. Woo. How to Construct Indistinguishability Obfuscation? Part II PDF
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Corinna Coupette. Real Preferences Under Arbitrary Norms PDF
16:30 Open problems session — brought to you by HIIT Frontier Friday
18:00 Dinner