Alain Durmus is a Professor at École Polytechnique, affiliated with the applied mathematics department (CMAP). His research focuses on computational statistics, machine learning, and stochastic methods, including Monte Carlo algorithms, Bayesian inference, and optimization. He explores topics such as Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), stochastic approximation, and generative models. His work emphasizes theoretical guarantees for algorithms like Langevin Monte Carlo and Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, with applications to high-dimensional Bayesian inference and inverse problems. Key contributions include hypocoercivity analysis of piecewise deterministic MCMC processes, convergence guarantees for stochastic gradient methods, and the development of efficient sampling techniques. He has also contributed to Bayesian imaging and federated learning through works like the QLSD algorithm. Awarded the Best Student Paper Award at ICASSP 2020 for his work on the Sliced-Wasserstein distance. His teaching spans mathematical statistics, stochastic methods, and probability at École Polytechnique and ENS Paris-Saclay. He has also contributed to conferences and workshops on topics ranging from MCMC convergence to optimization in machine learning.
