Sophie Libkind

Research Scientist

Topos US

Sophie Libkind received her PhD in Math from Stanford University in 2024. Her research is motivated by connections between continuous dynamics occurring in nature and symbolic computation. Sophie is also passionate about education both in terms of redefining what it means to “be a math person” as well as bridging the languages of math and science.

Blog posts

A polynomial account of Bayesian update

One of the things I do at Topos is make sense of some aspect of the world by articulating it in mathematics. Follow along as I make sense of Bayesian update using the mathematics of polynomial functors.

Sophie Libkind, David Spivak
2024-08-12

Rethink math talks
Can we build a tradition of math talks which invites the audience to engage not only with the speaker but also with each other? That is, a seminar that starts as a lecture and ends as a conversation. In this post, Sophie and Priyaa discuss how such a seminar might look based on previous…
Sophie Libkind, Priyaa Varshinee Srinivasan
2024-08-02

Ontological Commitments for Boundaries
When we do math about things we care about, committing to which mathematics represents which intuitions moves us forward.
Sophie Libkind
2024-04-25

Poly @ Work 2024
Polynomial functors are a prime example of mathematics’ startling capacity to yield deep formal insights and real-world applications from the simplest ingredients. The category of polynomial functors (Poly) offers an abundance of elegant theory linked with computational design patterns that span…
Sophie Libkind, David Spivak
2024-03-27

A handwritten solution to solving the acceleration of a spring on earth

Composing springs

Physical systems are often composed of many interacting subsystems. In this post, we take a peek at the math and the software implementation for composing systems of springs using decorated cospans.

Sophie Libkind
2024-01-18

A Rosetta Stone for our vignettes

Trustworthy Reification
Not all meals created from the same recipe are equally delicious. Not all programs that accurately sort a list are equally useful. High-level specifications, such as a recipe or a prompt, are only practical because I trust the chef or engineer to execute them in a way that aligns with my values…
Sophie Libkind
2023-12-05

A screenshot of Definition 3.7 from (Shapiro and Spivak 2022)

When you light up, I light up

“Cells that fire together, wire together.” This slogan for Hebbian learning evokes a strategy for reorganization in which an individual strengthens their connection with another if they have similar behavior. Here we give a mathematical account of Hebbian learning as a dynamic monoidal category.

Sophie Libkind, David Spivak
2022-10-28

Left to right: Sophie Libkind, David Jaz Myers, Nelson Niu, Owen Lynch

Get to know our Summer Research Associates
We’re excited to welcome our 2021 summer research associates to our Berkeley campus! This summer we have Sophie Libkind, Owen Lynch, David Jaz Myers, and Nelson Niu joining our work on connected intelligence and model-based scientific computing. They bring new exciting energy and ideas, and we’re…
Brendan Fong, Sophie Libkind, David Jaz Myers, Owen Lynch, Nelson Niu
2021-07-19
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