Antonio Blanca

Pennsylvania State UniversityTheory Group
Antonio Blanca

I am an Associate Professor in the CSE Department at Penn State. My research interests include randomized algorithms, Markov chain Monte Carlo, spin systems, learning, testing, and applications in statistical physics and computational biology.

My research has been supported by the NSF (CAREER CCF-2143762, CISE CCF-2312709, GRFP), NIH (NIGMS R01GM146462), and the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship.

I am currently serving as the Professor in Charge of the CSE Graduate Programs.

Students

  • Sherry Robinson
  • Md Tahmidur Rafid
  • Heehyun Park
  • Xusheng Zhang (Summer '24)

Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, 2016-2018Georgia Tech
  • PhD in Computer Science, 2016UC Berkeley
  • BS in CS/Math, 2011Georgia Tech

Publications

  1. Optimal mixing of the systematic scan dynamics via approximate tensorization of entropy
    A. Blanca and Md Tahmidur Rafid
    In submission
  2. Uniqueness and mixing in the low-temperature random-cluster model on trees and random graphs
    A. Blanca, R. Gheissari, H. Park, and X. Zhang
    In submission
  3. On weighted partial triangulations of convex polygons
    A. Blanca, A. Stauffer, and I. Stuhl
    In submission
  4. Mixing and cutoff for the systematic scan dynamics of the mean-field ferromagnetic Potts model
    A. Blanca and Md Tahmidur Rafid
    RANDOM 2026
  5. Cutoff for the Swendsen-Wang dynamics on the complete graph
    A. Blanca and Z. Song
    FSTTCS 2025
  6. Estimation of substitution and indel rates via k-mer statistics
    M.R. Hera, P. Medvedev, D. Koslicki and A. Blanca
    Algorithms for Molecular Biology, 2026, 21(2)
    WABI 2025
  7. K-mer-based estimators of the substitution rate between repetitive sequences
    H. Wu, A. Blanca, and P. Medvedev
    Algorithms for Molecular Biology, 2026, 21(1)
    WABI 2025
  8. Mean-field Potts and random-cluster dynamics from high-entropy initializations
    A. Blanca, R. Gheissari and X. Zhang
    Annals of Applied Probability, 2026, 36(1), pp. 393-450
    SODA 2025
  9. Rapid mixing of global Markov chains via spectral independence: the unbounded degree case
    A. Blanca and X. Zhang
    Algorithmica, 2026, 88(1), 19
    RANDOM 2023
  10. On the tractability of sampling from the Potts model at low temperatures via Swendsen-Wang dynamics
    A. Blanca and R. Gheissari
    Probability Theory and Related Fields, 2024, 191, pp. 1121-1168
    FOCS 2023
  11. Complexity of high-dimensional identity testing with coordinate conditional sampling
    A. Blanca, Z. Chen, D. Stefankovic and E. Vigoda
    ACM Transactions on Algorithms, 2024, 21(1), pp. 1-58
    COLT 2023
  12. Fast and perfect sampling of subgraphs and polymer systems
    A. Blanca, S. Cannon and W. Perkins
    ACM Transactions on Algorithms, 2023, 20(1), pp. 1-30
    RANDOM 2022
  13. Sampling from Potts on random graphs of unbounded degree via random-cluster dynamics
    A. Blanca and R. Gheissari
    Annals of Applied Probability, 2023, 33(6B), pp. 4997-5049
    RANDOM 2022
  14. The minimizer Jaccard estimator is biased and inconsistent
    M. Belbasi, A. Blanca, R. Harris, D. Koslicki and P. Medvedev
    ISMB 2022
  15. On mixing of Markov chains: coupling, spectral independence, and entropy factorization
    A. Blanca, P. Caputo, Z. Chen, D. Parisi, D. Stefankovic and E. Vigoda
    Electronic Journal of Probability, 2022, 27(142), pp. 1-42
    SODA 2022
  16. The critical mean-field Chayes-Machta dynamics
    A. Blanca, A. Sinclair and X. Zhang
    Combinatorics, Probability and Computing, 2022, 31(6), pp. 924-975
    RANDOM 2021
  17. The Swendsen-Wang dynamics on trees
    A. Blanca, Z. Chen, D. Stefankovic and E. Vigoda
    Random Structures & Algorithms, 2023, 62(4), pp. 791-831
    RANDOM 2021
  18. Random-cluster dynamics on random regular graphs in tree uniqueness
    A. Blanca and R. Gheissari
    Communications in Mathematical Physics, 2021, 386, pp. 1243-1287
  19. Entropy decay in the Swendsen-Wang dynamics on Z^d
    A. Blanca, P. Caputo, D. Parisi, A. Sinclair and E. Vigoda
    Annals of Applied Probability, 2022, 32(2), pp. 1018-1057
    STOC 2021
  20. The statistics of k-mers from a sequence undergoing a simple mutation process without spurious matches
    A. Blanca, R. Harris, D. Koslicki and P. Medvedev
    Journal of Computational Biology, 2022, 29(2), pp. 155-168
    RECOMB 2021
  21. Hardness of identity testing for Restricted Boltzmann Machines and Potts models
    A. Blanca, Z. Chen, D. Stefankovic and E. Vigoda
    Journal of Machine Learning Research, 2021, 22(152), pp. 1-56
    COLT 2020
  22. Random-cluster dynamics in Z^2: rapid mixing with general boundary conditions
    A. Blanca, R. Gheissari and E. Vigoda
    Annals of Applied Probability, 2020, 30(1), pp. 418-459
    RANDOM 2019
  23. Lower bounds for testing graphical models: colorings and antiferromagnetic Ising models
    I. Bezakova, A. Blanca, Z. Chen, D. Stefankovic and E. Vigoda
    Journal of Machine Learning Research, 2020, 21(25), pp. 1-62
    COLT 2019
  24. Swendsen-Wang dynamics for general graphs in the tree uniqueness region
    A. Blanca, Z. Chen and E. Vigoda
    Random Structures & Algorithms, 2020, 56(2), pp. 373-400
    RANDOM 2018
  25. Sampling in Uniqueness from the Potts and random-cluster models on random regular graphs
    A. Blanca, A. Galanis, L.A. Goldberg, D. Stefankovic, E. Vigoda and K. Yang
    SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 2020, 34(1), pp. 742-793
    RANDOM 2018
  26. Structure learning of H-colorings
    A. Blanca, Z. Chen, D. Stefankovic and E. Vigoda
    ACM Transactions on Algorithms, 2020, 16(3), pp. 1-28
    ALT 2018 - Best Paper Award
  27. Spatial mixing and non-local Markov chains
    A. Blanca, P. Caputo, A. Sinclair and E. Vigoda
    Random Structures & Algorithms, 2019, 55(3), pp. 584-614
    SODA 2018
  28. Phase coexistence for the hard-core model on Z^2
    A. Blanca, Y. Chen, D. Galvin, D. Randall and P. Tetali
    Combinatorics, Probability and Computing, 2019, 28(1), pp. 1-22
  29. Random-cluster dynamics in Z^2
    A. Blanca and A. Sinclair
    Probability Theory and Related Fields, 2017, 168(3), pp. 821-847
    SODA 2016
  30. Dynamics for the mean-field random-cluster model
    A. Blanca and A. Sinclair
    RANDOM 2015
  31. Phase coexistence and slow mixing for the hard-core model on Z^2
    A. Blanca, D. Galvin, D. Randall and P. Tetali
    RANDOM 2013
  32. On universal cycles for new classes of combinatorial structures
    A. Blanca and A.P. Godbole
    SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 2011, 25(4), pp. 1832-1842

Teaching

  • Fall 2025: CMPSC 478 - Advanced Algorithms
  • Fall 2024: CSE 565 - Algorithm Design and Analysis
  • Fall 2023: CMPSC 465 - Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Spring 2023: CMPSC 478 - Advanced Algorithms
  • Fall 2022: CSE 565 - Algorithm Design and Analysis
  • Spring 2022: CSE 597 - The Markov chain Monte Carlo method
  • Fall 2021: CMPSC 465 - Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Spring 2021: CSE 562 - Probabilistic Algorithms
  • Fall 2020: CSE 565 - Algorithm Design and Analysis
  • Fall 2019: CMPSC 465 - Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Spring 2019: CSE 562 - Probabilistic Algorithms

Contact

  • ablanca@cse.psu.edu
  • 311W Westgate Building, Penn State, University Park, PA 16802
  • Office hours: Mondays 10:00 am to 11:00 am