Duke University is collaborating with Harvard and the University of California, Davis on a three-year, $1.2 million award from the National Science Foundation to develop AI tools for an end-to-end pipeline for polyhedral geometry.
The multidisciplinary research team includes Ethan Fang, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, and Jian Pei, PhD, Arthur S. Pearse Distinguished Professor of Computer Science. Fang specializes in mathematical programming and optimization, while Pei specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) and data mining.
The project aims to determine how computers can generate new complicated polyhedrons with certain properties, discover new conjectures on polyhedrons, and verify the discovered conjectures on polyhedrons.
The proposed work will not only expand AI's role in discrete mathematics but also enhance our understanding of how to develop rigorous and trustworthy AI tools, which are crucial for medical applications.
In addition, the team is committed to advancing STEM education and developing courses for a global audience to equip the next generation of researchers will skills in computational and discrete geometry.
The PIs will organize a workshop next year at Duke to foster more interdisciplinary collaborations.