
Hi, I am a lecturer in computer science at the University of Bristol. I work in computational complexity and discrete math, mainly on lower bounds in proof complexity.
Here's an example of the questions I like exploring: given a graph \(G\) that has no proper vertex 3-coloring, can this fact be proved by a formal proof of length at most \(|G|^{10}\)? For an arbitrary such graph \(G\), intuition might suggest that some form of brute-force search over exponentially many potential colorings is inevitable, yet a rigorous proof remains beyond reach.
A more realistic goal is to show that short proofs don't exist in restricted (nondeterministic) formal systems. Many such systems capture the methods of reasoning behind widely used algorithms, so analysing their efficiency is directly relevant to computer science. The techniques developed in this area are distinctive but connected to several branches of math and TCS. See more