Improved Euclidean Shallow-Light Trees
Hung Le, Shay Solomon, Cuong Than, Csaba D. Tóth, Tianyi Zhang. (2027). "Improved Euclidean Shallow-Light Trees." ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA 2027).
CV
The PDF version of my CV can be downloaded here.
Research Interests
Graph algorithms, computational geometry, discrete metric spaces, and theoretical computer science.
Education
- Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2021 - 2027 (expected June 2027)
- Advisor: Dr. Hung Le
- M.S. in Computer Science, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2019 - 2021
- B.S. in Computer Science, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 2014 - 2019
- Highest GPA in the Honors Program
Honors and Awards
- Google PhD Fellowship in Algorithms and Optimization, 2025 - 2027
- One of three recipients in Algorithms and Optimization; provides two years of research support.
- 1st Place, ICPC North Central North America Regional Contest, 2019
- 2nd Prize, ICPC Asia Regional Contest, 2018
- 2nd Prize, Vietnamese Olympiad in Informatics for Undergraduates, 2018
- 1st Prize, Vietnamese Olympiad in Analysis for Undergraduates, 2015
- 1st Prize, Vietnamese Olympiad in Linear Algebra for Undergraduates, 2015
Publications
See the Publications page for the full list with links.
Three Trees Suffice for a Constant Stretch in Minor-Free Graphs
Hung Le, Huy Pham, Cuong Than, Tuan Tran. (2026). "Three Trees Suffice for a Constant Stretch in Minor-Free Graphs." arXiv:2608.13508.
Tree-Like Shortcuttings of Trees
H Le, S Solomon, L Milenkovic and C Than. (2026). "Tree-Like Shortcuttings of Trees." The 42th International Symposium on Computational Geometry, (SoCG) 2026.
Optimal Bounds for Spanners and Tree Covers in Doubling Metrics
A La, H Le, S Solomon, C Than, Vinayak, S Yang and T Zhang. (2026). "Optimal Bounds for Spanners and Tree Covers in Doubling Metrics ." The 42th International Symposium on Computational Geometry, (SoCG) 2026.
Approximating Euclidean Shallow-Light Trees
H Le, S Solomon, C Than, C Tóth and T Zhang. (2026). "Approximating Euclidean Shallow-Light Trees ." The 42th International Symposium on Computational Geometry, (SoCG) 2026.
Approximate Light Spanners in Planar Graphs
H Le, S Solomon, C Than, C Toth, T Zhang. (2026). "Approximate Light Spanners in Planar Graphs ." ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA26) .
Light Tree Covers, Routing, and Path-Reporting Oracles via Spanning Tree Covers in Doubling Graphs
HC Chang, J Conroy, H Le, S Solomon, C Than. (2025). "Light Tree Covers, Routing, and Path-Reporting Oracles via Spanning Tree Covers in Doubling Graphs ." The 57th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) 2025.
Matchings in Low-Arboricity Graphs in the Dynamic Graph Stream Model
Christian Konrad, Andrew McGregor, Rik Sengupta and Cuong Than. (2024). "Matchings in Low-Arboricity Graphs in the Dynamic Graph Stream Model. " The Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2024).
Towards Instance-Optimal Euclidean Spanners
Hung Le, Shay Solomon, Cuong Than, Csaba D. Toth, Tianyi Zhang. (2024). "Towards Instance-Optimal Euclidean Spanners. " The 65th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS 2024).
Shortcut partitions in minor-free graphs: Steiner point removal, distance oracles, tree covers, and more
HC Chang, J Conroy, H Le, L Milenkovic, S Solomon, C Than. (2024). "Shortcut partitions in minor-free graphs: Steiner point removal, distance oracles, tree covers, and more ." ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA24).
Optimal Euclidean Tree Covers
Hsien-Chih Chang, Jonathan Conroy, Hung Le, Lazar Milenkovic, Shay Solomon, Cuong Than. (2024). "Optimal Euclidean Tree Covers. " The 40th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2024).
Covering Planar Metrics (and Beyond): O(1) Trees Suffice
HC Chang, J Conroy, H Le, L Milenkovic, S Solomon, C Than. (2023). "Covering Planar Metrics (and Beyond): O(1) Trees Suffice ." The 64th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS) 2023.
Optimal Fault-Tolerant Spanners in Euclidean and Doubling Metrics: Breaking the Ω(log n) Lightness Barrier
H Le, S Solomon, C Than. (2023). "Optimal Fault-Tolerant Spanners in Euclidean and Doubling Metrics: Breaking the Ω(log n) Lightness Barrier ." The 64th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS) 2023.
Resolving the Steiner Point Removal Problem in Planar Graphs via Shortcut Partitions
Hsien-Chih Chang, Jonathan Conroy, Hung Le, Lazar Milenković, Shay Solomon, Cuong Than. (2023). "Resolving the Steiner Point Removal Problem in Planar Graphs via Shortcut Partitions." arXiv:2306.06235.
Greedy Spanners in Euclidean Spaces Admit Sublinear Separators
H Le, C Than. (2021). "Greedy Spanners in Euclidean Spaces Admit Sublinear Separators ." The 33rd ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA22).
Latest Algorithms on Particular Graph Classes
T Do, T Pham, C Than. (2020). "Latest Algorithms on Particular Graph Classes." IOI Journal.
Schelling Models with Localized Social Influence: A Game-Theoretic Framework
H Chan, M Irfan and C Than, "Schelling Models with Localized Social Influence: A Game-Theoretic Framework." The 19th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems.
An O (n√ n log log n) average case algorithm for the maximum induced matching problem in permutation graphs
C Than, T Do. (2018). "An O (n√ n log log n) average case algorithm for the maximum induced matching problem in permutation graphs ." 2018 5th Asian Conference on Defense Technology (ACDT).
Talks
Approximating Euclidean Shallow-Light Trees
Conference presentation, SoCG 2026
Light Tree Covers, Routing, and Path-Reporting Oracles via Spanning Tree Covers in Doubling Graphs
Invited talk, Theory Seminar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Approximating Light Spanners
Invited talk, Theory Seminar, Brown University, Providence, RI
Towards Instance-Optimal Euclidean Spanners
Invited talk, Theory Group Seminar, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Towards Instance-Optimal Euclidean Spanners
Conference presentation, FOCS 2024
Optimal Fault-Tolerant Spanners in Euclidean and Doubling Metrics
Conference presentation, FOCS 2023
Greedy Spanners in Euclidean Spaces Admit Sublinear Separators
Conference presentation, SODA 2022
Poster Presentation
Poster, International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE), Quy Nhon, Vietnam
Research Experience
- Dec 2024 - Mar 2025: Student Researcher, Google Research
- Developed routing algorithms for temporal graphs with the Google Geo team.
- Aug - Oct 2023: Student Researcher, Google Research
- Worked with the Graph Mining team in the Algorithms and Optimization group.
- Implemented and improved graph-based sampling and distillation algorithms for Gemini.
- 2021 - present: Research Assistant, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Conduct research in graph algorithms and computational geometry, with emphasis on spanners, tree covers, and metric algorithms.
- Aug 2022: Visiting Researcher, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- Research visit supported by the NSF-BSF grant “Towards a Unified Theory of Spanners.”
- Conducted research on distributed and fault-tolerant graph algorithms with Shay Solomon.
Mentoring and Professional Service
- Research Mentor, Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP), UMass Amherst. Mentored undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in research projects in theoretical computer science.
- Reviewer: Discrete & Computational Geometry; SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics; ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithmics; STOC 2025 - 2026; SODA 2022, 2024 - 2026; FOCS 2024; SoCG 2026; ESA 2026; APPROX 2026; WADS 2019.
Teaching
- Fall 2019 - Spring 2021: Teaching Assistant, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
- Courses: Introduction to Computer Science, Design and Analysis of Algorithms
- Fall 2018 - Spring 2019: Teaching Assistant, Hanoi University of Science and Technology
- Courses: Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Discrete Mathematics
Technical Skills
- Programming: C++, Python, Java; prior experience with C# and OCaml.
- Systems: Familiar with large-scale distributed systems and production research infrastructure.