Joel Hakavuori

PhD Student in Mathematics at Sorbonne Université / IMJ-PRG

📬 hakavuori@imj-prg.fr

About

I am a PhD student at Sorbonne University / Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu–Paris Rive Gauche (IMJ-PRG), where I began my doctoral studies in January 2025 under the supervision of Karim Adiprasito. Broadly speaking, I am interested in the interplay between algebra, geometry, and combinatorics.

I am supported by the Osk. Huttunen Foundation. For the 2025–2026 academic year, I was visiting David Speyer at the University of Michigan as a Fulbright grantee, funded by a Fulbright-Technology Industries of Finland grant.

Prior to my PhD, I completed an MSc in Mathematics (2024) and a BSc in Engineering Physics and Mathematics (2023) at Aalto University.

Research

The g-theorem in smooth approximation, 2026.
Discrete mixed volumes and Alexandrov–Fenchel-type inequalities, 2026.
Subadditivity of shifts, Eilenberg-Zilber shuffle products and homology of lattices, joint with Karim Adiprasito, Anders Björner, Minas Margaritis and Volkmar Welker, 2024.

Talks

October 2026: Queen Mary University of London, Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry Seminar
September 2026: IMJ-PRG, Combinatorics & Optimization Journée d’équipe
August 2026: Aalto University, Algebra, Geometry and Combinatorics seminar
June 2026: AlCoVE 2026, Poster session
February 2026: University of Michigan, Student Combinatorics seminar
January 2026: University of Michigan, Commutative Algebra seminar
August 2025: Bernoulli Center, Lausanne, Summer School on Positivity in K-theory and Lattice Points (short talk)
August 2023: Aalto University, Algebra and Discrete Mathematics seminar

Theses

MSc thesis: Nonpositive curvature, l2-invariants and right-angled Coxeter groups, advised by Karim Adiprasito and Kaie Kubjas.
BSc thesis: Hochster’s formula in combinatorial commutative algebra, advised by Milo Orlich and Alexander Engström.