This summer I am attending the Einstein Institute of Mathematics REU in Jerusalem, Israel. The program just began as of 8 June, so I will add many experiences and some pictures to this post as more things happen, but I'd like to start here by sort of describing the beginning of the program and some things I've experienced so far.

The elephant in the room at this current moment is the reality of long-standing geopolitical conflict in the region. I won't talk about details or politics as my goal here is to document my experiences, but the program began rather explosively with sirens, missile alerts, and a video of a missile being intercepted. More details here. This didn't really hinder much.

I was able to meet with my advisor, and the project was broadly introduced to us. From what I currently understand, a large fragment of the REU is dedicated to understanding the Solovay-Kitaev theorem for compact Lie groups, and potentially attempting to extend the algorithm to general groups. Depending on the direction, we might also attempt to work on an open problem in group theory, or possibly go in some other directions relating to quantum algorithms and algebraic number theory. I imagine objectives and interests will shift, but this is the basic skeleton of the program.

I've also had a lot of fun meeting the other people in the program, and it's nice to see how international our group is! We have people from China, South Korea, Greece, and the United States.

Anyway, some of us visited the campus today, and I have to say: the Hebrew University has a rather nice campus, and I really appreciate the combination of traditional and brutalist architecture. Here are some random pictures.

Solovay-Kitaev whiteboard notes
Flash talk about the project
Group eating sabich
Sabich!
Group at Einstein statue
Albert Einstein statue
Einstein Institute of Mathematics entrance
The Einstein Institute of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI)


(8 June, 2026)