Benedikt Pago

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Robinson College in Cambridge. As a theoretical computer scientist, I am part of the Logic and Algorithms group led by Anuj Dawar. Before that, in 2023, I completed my PhD under the supervision of Erich Grädel at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

My research interests cover a range of topics in complexity theory and logic, such as descriptive complexity and finite model theory, proof complexity, algebraic circuit complexity, and the theory of constraint satisfaction problems.

The central question that is studied in these areas is what amount of resources, say, computing time, circuit size, number of lines in a proof, or number of variables in a logical formula, is required to solve a given problem, express a query, or prove a mathematical statement.

I am especially interested in proving lower bounds by building a comprehensive theory that ties all these facets of complexity together and explains what it is that makes a particular problem easy or hard. Its overarching framework is based on the notion of symmetry that crops up in different guises in circuits, proofs, or algorithms.