Lionel Levine

Lionel Levine is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Cornell University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences. His academic research focuses on abelian networks, interacting particle systems, and the emergence of complex patterns from simple rules. He has held prestigious fellowships, including the Simons Fellowship and Sloan Research Fellowship, and has been honored with an endowed professorship. Levine's work bridges probability theory, combinatorics, and statistical physics, with notable contributions to the study of sandpile models and internal diffusion-limited aggregation (IDLA).

Education: Ph.D. in Mathematics (2007), University of California, Berkeley.

Research Interests: Applied Mathematics, Combinatorics, Probability, Abelian Networks, Sandpile Models, and their intersections with computer science and statistical physics. His research explores how local rules generate large-scale structures, such as in abelian networks and sandpile models.

Awards and Honors: Simons Fellowship, Sloan Research Fellowship, Endowed Professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Teaching: Courses include Probability Theory (MATH 6710/6720), Topics in Probability: Math for AI Safety (MATH 7710), and undergraduate mathematics courses like Strategy, Cooperation, and Conflict (MATH 1340).

Grants and Funding: Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Simons Foundation, Sloan Foundation, and Institute for Advanced Study.

Collaborations: Collaborates with prominent researchers such as Yuval Peres, Cris Moore, and Jim Propp. His work has been published in leading journals like the Annals of Probability and Duke Mathematical Journal.

Future Work: Continues investigating AI safety, causal models, and multi-agent learning, including research on mathematical frameworks for transformer circuits and hidden incentives in AI systems.