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Eissa Haydar

Email: e[mylastname]@cmu.edu

I am a first-year PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan (UofM), where I studied philosophy (graduating with highest honors) and pure mathematics, with a minor in computer science.

I primarily work in logic and formal epistemology. Most generally, I am interested in questions about complexity and information in the contexts of language, learning, and mathematics. Currently, I am working in the foundations of probabilistic inference, and on connections to decision theory and the philosophy of science.

My CV will be linked here when I make one.

Academic Work

  • Measuring the complexity of characterizing \([0, 1]\), \(S^1\), and \(\mathbb{R}\) up to homeomorphism (with Matthew Harrison-Trainor) This paper studies the complexity of topological spaces. Basically, given a computable presentation of a space like the unit interval or a circle, how difficult (in a precise descriptive set-theoretic sense) is it to know exactly which space you have? This work began during a summer 2023 REU, where Matthew was my mentor.

    Submitted for publication. [ pdf ] [ arXiv ]
  • Costly Invention Informs Compositional Signaling This paper studies the relationship between compositionality and invention in signaling games, seen as a generalization of language.

    Undergraduate honors thesis, advised by Jim Joyce. [ pdf ] [ story ]

Professional Experience

  • (Currently) Instructor for 80-100 Introduction to Philosophy (Summer Two 2025; CMU)
  • Teaching Assistant for 80-150 Nature of Reason (Spring 2025; CMU)
  • Grader for 80-383/683 Language in Use (Fall 2024; CMU)
  • Instructional Aide for CSE 543: Ethics for AI and Robotics (Winter 2024; UofM)