Dr. Elchanan Mossel

Biography

Elchanan Mossel works in probability and combinatorics inference. His research interests include combinatorial statistics, discrete Fourier analysis, randomized algorithms, computational complexity, Markov random fields, social choice, game theory, evolution, and the mathematical foundations of deep learning. Mossel's research includes discrete function inequalities, isoperimetry, and hypercontractivity. He led the proof of the Majority Stablest conjecture and has confirmed results regarding the optimality of the Goemans-Williamson MAX-CUT algorithm and the unique games conjecture in computational complexity. His work on the reconstruction problem in trees provides optimal algorithms and bounds for phylogenetic reconstruction, with sharp results in the analysis of Gibbs samplers in statistical physics and optimal results in inference problems related to block models and planted partitions. Mossel has resolved numerous open problems in computational biology, machine learning, social choice theory, and economics. He received his BSc from the Open University in Israel in 1992, followed by an MSc (1997) and a PhD (2000) in mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has held a postdoctoral fellowship at Microsoft Research and was a Miller Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley, joining its faculty in 2003. Mossel became a full professor at MIT in July 2016 and has received various honors including a Sloan Research Fellowship, an NSF CAREER Award, and election to the National Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards