Abel Douzal

PhD student · CMAP · École polytechnique

[version française]
Portrait of Abel Douzal

I am a first-year PhD student at CMAP (SIMPAS team), École polytechnique, supervised by Aymeric Dieuleveut and Erwan Scornet. My current research focuses on nonparametric estimation and missing data. I have previously worked on kernel methods, stochastic games, convexity and optimization. I am also interested in the foundations of statistical learning and its connections with geometry and information theory. Over the past year, I have worked on a research project combining optimal transport, nonparametric estimation, statistical minimax optimality and computational efficiency.

I have now completed my studies in the Computer Science Department at École normale supérieure, where I designed a programme focused on machine learning and a range of related fields. I attended the second-year IASD master’s programme in 2025–2026.

Publications & research

Dissertations & other work

  • Nonlinear learning in a Hilbert space

    PDF

    Master’s internship report

    Supervised by Kenji Fukumizu · Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM), Tokyo.

  • Partially observable stochastic games

    PDFCode

    Undergraduate internship report

    Supervised by Bruno Gaujal.

  • Infinite automata

    PDF

    Report

    Formal languages, computability and complexity course at ENS.

  • Approximate minimum-cost Hamiltonian path search

    PDFCode

    TIPE

    TIPE project on the theme of societal challenges.

Code

  • PetitC

    Archive

    OCaml · Compilers

    A compiler developed with Ferdinand Jacobé de Naurois for Jean-Christophe Filliâtre’s course.

  • Gitar

    Archive

    OCaml · Systems

    A Git implementation developed with Sven Meyer.

  • Game of Life & mazes

    Notebook

    Cellular automata

    On various spaces obtained by gluing edges of a square · Gregory McShane’s course.

  • Digital clock & processor

    GitLab

    RISC-V · Architecture

    A digital clock on a processor simulated in real time, with Maurice Debray and Rémy Kimbrough.

  • Approximate minimum-cost Hamiltonian path

    Archive

    Algorithms · TIPE

    Code for the approximate minimum-cost Hamiltonian path search project.

GitHub ↗GitLab ENS ↗

Curriculum vitae

Download CV [French] · PDF ↗

Research experience

Teaching

I am a teaching assistant at École polytechnique for the 2026–2027 academic year.

Reading

Computer science
  • Langages formels, calculabilité et complexité, Olivier Carton. Freely available here
  • Éléments de théorie des automates, Jacques Sakarovitch
  • Applied automata theory, Dr. Wolfgang Thomas
  • Complexité algorithmique, Sylvain Perifel. Freely available from the author here
  • Discrete Probability Models and Methods, Pierre Brémaud
  • Probability and Computing : Randomized Algorithms and Probabilistic Analysis, Michael Mitzenmacher et Eli Upfal
  • Les clefs pour l'info, Ismaël Belghiti, Roger Mansuy, Jill-Jênn Vie
  • Programmation efficace, Christophe Dürr et Jill-Jênn Vie
  • Combinatorial optimization, Alexander Schrijver
  • Approximation algorithms, Vijay V. Vazirani
  • Parametrized complexity, Rod G. Downey, Michael R.Fellows
  • Parameterized Algorithms, Marek Cygan et al.
  • Understanding and using linear programming, Jirí Matoušek, Bernd Gärtner
  • The Art of computer programming, Donald Knuth
  • Proofs from THE BOOK, Martin Aigner, Günter M. Ziegler
  • Algorithms on Strings, Trees, and Sequences, Dan Gusfield
  • CLRS (Introduction to Algorithms)
  • Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools, Alfred V. Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman
Mathematics
  • Cours d'algèbre, Daniel Perrin
  • An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers, G. H. Hardy and E. M. Wright. Also available in French.
  • Cours de Mathématiques, Jacqueline Lelong-Ferrand and Jean-Marie Arnaudiès (especially volumes 1 and 2)
  • Calcul différentiel et intégral, Nicolas Piskounov (very difficult to find)
  • Aide-mémoire de théorie des probabilités et de statistique mathématique, V. S. Koroliouk (very difficult to find)
  • Algèbre : le grand combat, Grégory Berhuy
  • Analyse pour l’agrégation, Zuily, Queffélec (highly recommended to me)
  • Le Gall’s lecture notes on measure theory and integration. Freely available here
  • Encyclopedia of distances, Elena Deza et al.
Historical papers
  • Euler’s seven bridges of Königsberg paper (in Latin!). PDF
  • Lebesgue’s foundational paper on integration theory. PDF
Mathematics notes · Preparatory classes

Written after my preparatory classes; not intended to be exhaustive.