During his PhD, Yotam studied program analysis and verification, focusing on how to create algorithms that can reason about programs and prove that they are correct. Yotam developed a theory of why modern verification algorithms are successful, uncovering connections to classical machine learning theory.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Yotam pivots from Computer Science to Chemistry, working with Dr. Barak Hirshberg on molecular dynamics simulations. These provide a “virtual microscope” which can probe a wide range of complex chemical systems at the atomic scale. He hopes that new algorithmic techniques can make this virtual microscope much more powerful, allowing us to understand larger systems, along longer time-spans, with more complex behaviors than is currently possible.
That the endless richness of chemical systems can be understood by theoretical and computational thinking is fascinating to Yotam. In particular, he is interested in chemical questions related to addressing the climate crisis.