Yahoo! Research 111 W. 40th Street, 17th Floor New York, NY 10018 (map) goel AT yahoo-inc DOT com Tel: 212-571-8149 (work) Tel: 607-339-9903 (mobile)

EDUCATION
Research Fellow, Dept. of Mathematics, University of Southern California, 2006 - 2007
Research Fellow, Dept. of Mathematics, Stanford University, 2005 - 2006
PhD in Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, 2005
MS in Computer Science, Cornell University, 2003
BS in Mathematics, University of Chicago, 1999

Hello! I work in the Microeconomics and Social Systems (MESS) group at Yahoo! Research. When I'm not doing math I like to relax by playing cello, and learning to play the sitar that I couldn't resist bringing back from India on a recent trip. If you're bored, check out these web projects I've been involed in: Yoopick, a sport prediction market, and Pictcha, a variant on CAPTCHAs.

2006-2007 (USC)

• Math 407: Probability Theory (Spring Semester)
• Math 218: Probability for Business
• Math 407: Probability Theory (Fall Semester)
• Math 506: Stochastic Processes

2005-2006 (Stanford University)

• Summer Math Institute
• Math 103: Matrix Theory and its Applications

2004-2005 (Cornell University)

• Math 171: Statistical Theory and Application in the Real World
• Math 112: Calculus II
• Math Explorers Club
• Expanding Your Horizons
• Graduate Student School Outreach Program (GSSOP)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Applied Probability and Statistics
• Algorithms
• Applications to Social Science

I work at the intersection of probability, statistics and computer science, and am particularly interested in applications arising from the social sciences.

PUBLICATIONS/PREPRINTS

• Respondent-Driven Sampling as Markov Chain Monte Carlo
  With Matthew J. Salganik (submitted)

• Predictive Indexing for Fast Search
  With John Langford and Alex Strehl (submitted)

• Pricing Combinatorial Markets for Tournaments
  With Yiling Chen and David Pennock
  40th ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC), 2008

• Horseshoes in Multidimensional Scaling and Kernel Methods
  With Persi Diaconis and Susan Holmes
  Annals of Applied Statistics, to appear.

• Analysis of Top to Bottom-k Shuffles
  Annals of Applied Probability, Vol 16, No. 1, February 2006, 30-55.

• Mixing Time Bounds via the Spectral Profile
  With Ravi Montenegro and Prasad Tetali
  Electronic Journal of Probability, Vol 11, January 2006.

• Modified Logarithmic Sobolev Inequalities for Some Models of Random Walk
  Stochastic Processes and Their Applications, Volume 114, November 2004, 51-79.

EXPOSITORY/MISCELLANEA

• An Invisible Minority: Asian Americans in Mathematics
  Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Vol 53, No. 8, September 2006.

• The Art of Anonymity: Exploring DC-Nets
  The UMAP Journal, Vol 26, No. 4, Winter 2005, 459-470.

• Estimating Mixing Times: Techniques and Applications
  PhD Thesis, Cornell University, August 2005.

INVITED TALKS

• Predictive Indexing
  Workshop on Algorithms and Modern Massive Datasets, June 2008

• Pricing Combinatorial Markets for Tournaments
  Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC), May 2008

• Horseshoes in Multidimensional Scaling
  Probability Seminar, UC-Irvine Department of Mathematics, March 2007
  Probability Seminar, USC Department of Mathematics, March 2007
  Yahoo! Research Labs, February 2007
  Probability Seminar, UCLA Department of Mathematics, February 2007
  Georgia Tech Department of Mathematics, April 2006

• Respondent-Driven Sampling as Markov Chain Monte Carlo
  SIAM Conference on Discrete Math, June 2008
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), February 2008
  Social Networks Symposium, John Jay College, August 2007
  USC Department of Mathematics, February 2007

• Shuffling Cards: Estimating Mixing Times for Finite Markov Chains
  Colloquium, Université de Montréal Département de Mathématiques, February 2006

• Mixing Time Bounds Via the Spectral Profile
  Seymour Sherman Lecture and Conference, Indiana University, April 2006
  Probability Seminar, UC-Berkeley Department of Mathematics, April 2006
  Probability Seminar, Stanford University Department of Mathematics, October 2005
  Probability Seminar, UC-San Diego Department of Mathematics, October 2005

• Mixing Times for Top to Bottom Shuffles
  Combinatorics Seminar, MIT Department of Mathematics, February 2005
  Probability Seminar, Cornell University Department of Mathematics, February 2005
  Workshop on Markov Chains, MSRI, January 2005
  Probability Seminar, UW-Madison Department of Mathematics, January 2005