I am a PhD student in the Theory of Computing Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, advised by Professor Jin-Yi Cai. I am interested in the theory of counting problems on graphs, including Holant, #CSP, and counting graph homomorphisms. Specifically, what can we learn about these problems by expressing them as tensor network contractions and applying tools from multilinear algebra, invariant theory, and other areas? I am also interested in quantum computing, especially as it relates to counting problems and tensor networks.

I completed a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science and B.A. in Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University in 2021, advised by Professor Harold Connamacher. My M.S. thesis studied the connections between totally symmetric and medial quasigroups and Abelian groups.

Publications/Preprints ¹

1. Planar Graph Homomorphisms: A Dichotomy and a Barrier from Quantum Groups
   Jin-Yi Cai, Ashwin Maran, and Ben Young
   arXiv: 2601.23198 [cs.CC], 2026
2. Vanishing Signatures, Orbit Closure, and the Converse of the Holant Theorem
   Jin-Yi Cai and Ben Young
   ITCS 2026
3. The Converse of the Real Orthogonal Holant Theorem
   Ben Young
   ICALP 2025. Best Student Paper, Track A
4. Quantum Algorithms for Discrete Log Require Precise Rotations
   Jin-Yi Cai and Ben Young
   ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing 6.3, 2025.
5. Equality on all #CSP Instances Yields Constraint Function Isomorphism via Interpolation and Intertwiners
   Ben Young
   The Electronic Journal of Combinatorics 32, 2025
6. Planar #CSP Equality Corresponds to Quantum Isomorphism - A Holant Viewpoint
   Jin-Yi Cai and Ben Young
   ICALP 2023
   ACM Transactions on Computation Theory 16.3, 2024.
7. The Number of Labeled n-ary Abelian Groups and Totally Symmetric Medial Quasigroups
   Ben Young, Austin Hacker, and Harold Connamacher
   Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics 57, 2023.