I am a fifth-year PhD student at Georgetown University studying theoretical computer science under Sasha Golovnev. Prior to Georgetown, I was an undergraduate at University of Rochester studying math and computer science. You can find my CV here and my LinkedIn here.

On top of my PhD research in algorithms and data structures, I work as a data scientist at a healthcare startup where I research and develop machine learning pipelines and predictive models. I'm drawn to mission-driven work where rigorous algorithmic thinking can be applied to machine learning problems. Feel free to contact me at sik29 (at) georgetown (dot) edu.

Research

My work has focused on time-space tradeoffs for algorithms and data structures, and I've found myself drawn particularly to those with connections to computational complexity, such as function inversion with preprocessing and online orthogonal vectors.

Publications:

Authors listed in alphabetical order

  1. QMA Lower Bounds for Batch Verification via Approximate Degree
    Mark Bun, Mandar Juvekar, Samuel King
    Under Review.
  2. Online Orthogonal Vectors Revisited (SODA)
    Karthik Gajulapalli, Alexander Golovnev, Samuel King, Sidhant Saraogi
    Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA) 2026.
  3. On the Power of Adaptivity for Function Inversion (ECCC)
    Karthik Gajulapalli, Alexander Golovnev, Samuel King
    Conference on Information-Theoretic Cryptography (ITC) 2024.
  4. Quantum routing with fast reversals (arXiv)
    Aniruddha Bapat, Andrew M. Childs, Alexey V. Gorshkov, Samuel King, Eddie Schoute, Hrishee Shastri
    Quantum 2021.
  5. Rainbow numbers for x_1+x_2=kx_3 in Z_n (arXiv)
    Erin Bevilacqua, Samuel King, Jürgen Kritschgau, Michael Tait, Suzannah Tebon, Michael Young
    Integers: Electronic Journal of Combinatorial Number Theory 2020.

Teaching

  • Intro to Programming in the Age of AI, Georgetown University, Spring 2026 - Instructor
  • Gems of Theoretical CS, Georgetown University, Fall 2025 - TA and Lecturer
  • CS Department Tutoring, Georgetown University, Spring and Fall 2025 - Lead Tutor and Program Founder
  • Data Structures, Amherst College, Fall 2024 - Guest Lecturer
  • Intro to Algorithms, Georgetown University, Fall 2024 - TA and Lecturer
  • Math Methods for CS, Georgetown University, Spring 2024 - TA and Lecturer
  • Intro to Databases, Georgetown University, Fall 2023 - TA and Lecturer
  • New Horizons in TCS, TTIC, Summer 2023 - TA
  • Graduate Algebra I, University of Rochester, Fall 2020 - TA and Lecturer
  • Honors Calculus II (Freshman Real Analysis), University of Rochester, Springs 2018-2020 - TA and Workshop Leader
  • Honors Calculus I (Freshman Real Analysis), University of Rochester, Falls 2017-2019 - TA and Workshop Leader

About

I live in Arlington, VA with my wife and our two wonderful cats, Kala and Calypso.

Outside of work, you'll find me rock climbing, hiking, and running TTRPGs for friends and family. Recently, I've been volunteering at the local library to run Dungeons & Dragons sessions for elementary and middle schoolers.

I grew up near Erie, PA and went to school in Rochester, NY. Yes, I miss the snow.