Christian B. Hughes

Symbolic Dynamics • Interval Exchanges • Combinatorics on Words

I am interested in how symbolic encodings capture deep dynamical structures, especially in interval exchanges, renormalization schemes, and return words. I am also interested in tying these ideas to operator algebras.

Currently, I am a computer science student at CTU (Czech Technical University) in Prague. My research lies in symbolic dynamics, particularly the structure of interval exchange transformations and combinatorics on words. I also intern part-time at my university’s physics laboratory, where I work in conjunction with the CERN ATLAS collaboration to develop machine learning models to reconstruct the mass of the Higgs boson from collider data. Previously, I interned at Northrop Grumman during high school.

In my theoretical work, I aim to develop results that are meaningful, lasting, and beautiful, contributing to both the rigor and popularization of symbolic dynamics. In practical settings, I build systems close to theory, emphasizing the empirical synthesis of existing ideas.