Shihan Kanungo
Hello there! I’m Shihan—thanks for stopping by. I live in Palo Alto, CA. I am deeply fascinated by mathematics, physics, language, and music. I play the violin, compose with my MPK Mini Plus, and have a music taste that defies genre (and occasionally logic). When I’m not actively immersed in one of these pursuits, there’s a good chance I’m sitting very still, appearing contemplative—while secretly daydreaming about my next snack. I aspire to nurture my passions and use them to make meaningful contributions to the world ... ideally with a bit of joy, curiosity, and the occasional pastry along the way.
Recent news: Universality of Cutoff for Riffle Shuffling. Recently, Mark Sellke and collaborators proved that riffle shuffles exhibit a universal cutoff phenomenon: regardless of the distribution of cuts, a deck remains far from random until a critical number of shuffles, after which it becomes nearly uniform almost instantaneously—explaining why about seven proper riffle shuffles (or roughly fourteen sloppy ones) suffice to randomize a standard deck.
Currently reading: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
Recent Movies: L.A. Confidential (d. Curtis Hanson), and The Talented Mr. Ripley (d. Anthony Minghella)
Current Music Recs: We Stay Ugly 'Til The Pretty Decays by Mara Calder (Spotify), and Remain In Light by Angelique Kidjo. Also, these playlists, with one song each from my favorite albums from 2025: pop and jazz.
Song of the day (Fri Jun 26)
