Abigail
@abigailgentle.com
CS PhD at @sydney.edu.au. Working on Differential Privacy. Interested in TCS and maths, particularly learning, testing and statistics
Super cool expository paper on block designs and local differential privacy, showing a similar result to mine from last year but for a broader class of protocols ("pure" LDP functions and (r,λ)-designs)
arxiv.org/abs/2602.02744
arxiv.org/abs/2602.02744
An introduction to local differential privacy protocols using block designs
The design of protocols for local differential privacy (or LDP) has been a topic of considerable research interest in recent years. LDP protocols utilise the randomised encoding of outcomes of an expe...
arxiv.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Super cool expository paper on block designs and local differential privacy, showing a similar result to mine from last year but for a broader class of protocols ("pure" LDP functions and (r,λ)-designs)
arxiv.org/abs/2602.02744
arxiv.org/abs/2602.02744
Reposted by Abigail
Gradient optimization methods: the benefits of instability — Peter Bartlett, UC Berkeley
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEgT...
#MathSky #SMRISeminar
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEgT...
#MathSky #SMRISeminar
Gradient optimization methods: the benefits of instability
YouTube video by Sydney Mathematical Research Institute - SMRI
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Gradient optimization methods: the benefits of instability — Peter Bartlett, UC Berkeley
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEgT...
#MathSky #SMRISeminar
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEgT...
#MathSky #SMRISeminar
taking some artistic liberty in not using a log plot here
November 14, 2025 at 1:44 AM
taking some artistic liberty in not using a log plot here
I really need to switch to a newer Obsidian Zotero connector, but I've got such heavy scripting debt in this ancient abandonware plugin that I cant fathom how long it'll take me to port everything over
November 14, 2025 at 1:42 AM
I really need to switch to a newer Obsidian Zotero connector, but I've got such heavy scripting debt in this ancient abandonware plugin that I cant fathom how long it'll take me to port everything over
Reposted by Abigail
November 10, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Just caught myself writing D(P\|Q) on paper
November 4, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Just caught myself writing D(P\|Q) on paper
genuinely great learning-by-teaching opportunity
October 13, 2025 at 6:04 AM
genuinely great learning-by-teaching opportunity
I'm running a mock-conference for students using OpenReview, and have developed an appreciation for how nuanced that software is. But also an appreciation for conference chairs because of how much of a headache that software is
October 13, 2025 at 5:58 AM
I'm running a mock-conference for students using OpenReview, and have developed an appreciation for how nuanced that software is. But also an appreciation for conference chairs because of how much of a headache that software is
Reposted by Abigail
My petition to the 🇦🇺 Australian government: make part-time PhD students' stipends tax exempt!
📋 Read and sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
⏰ Deadline: October 1
📋 Read and sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
⏰ Deadline: October 1
e-petitions
e-petitions
www.aph.gov.au
September 3, 2025 at 5:54 AM
My petition to the 🇦🇺 Australian government: make part-time PhD students' stipends tax exempt!
📋 Read and sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
⏰ Deadline: October 1
📋 Read and sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
⏰ Deadline: October 1
I am a little sad they didn't attach their groundbreaking new information theory work for me to read
August 11, 2025 at 6:11 AM
I am a little sad they didn't attach their groundbreaking new information theory work for me to read
with great power (arXiv endorsement ability) comes great responsibility (quack emails)
August 11, 2025 at 6:10 AM
with great power (arXiv endorsement ability) comes great responsibility (quack emails)
Reposted by Abigail
New (solo) #privacy paper by @abigailgentle.com, PhD student at
@sydneycompsci.bsky.social: "Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation," to be presented at the Information Theory Workshop (ITW'25)!
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
@sydneycompsci.bsky.social: "Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation," to be presented at the Information Theory Workshop (ITW'25)!
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation
Local differential privacy represents the gold standard for preserving the privacy of data before it leaves the device, and distribution estimation under this model has been well studied. Recently, pr...
arxiv.org
August 8, 2025 at 4:10 AM
New (solo) #privacy paper by @abigailgentle.com, PhD student at
@sydneycompsci.bsky.social: "Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation," to be presented at the Information Theory Workshop (ITW'25)!
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
@sydneycompsci.bsky.social: "Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation," to be presented at the Information Theory Workshop (ITW'25)!
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
Thank you differential privacy bot :)
Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation
Abigail Gentle
http://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
Abigail Gentle
http://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
August 8, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Thank you differential privacy bot :)
These objects have been used for private learning (and statistics in general) both implicitly and explicitly for some time. But this resolved my personal curiosity as to whether other optimal constructions could exist.
August 8, 2025 at 2:11 AM
These objects have been used for private learning (and statistics in general) both implicitly and explicitly for some time. But this resolved my personal curiosity as to whether other optimal constructions could exist.
Workshop paper up on arXiv!
Bringing together a collection of necessary conditions on optimal LDP frequency estimation algorithms, and showing they restrict us to a specific class of combinatorial objects.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
Bringing together a collection of necessary conditions on optimal LDP frequency estimation algorithms, and showing they restrict us to a specific class of combinatorial objects.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
Necessity of Block Designs for Optimal Locally Private Distribution Estimation
Local differential privacy represents the gold standard for preserving the privacy of data before it leaves the device, and distribution estimation under this model has been well studied. Recently, pr...
arxiv.org
August 8, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Workshop paper up on arXiv!
Bringing together a collection of necessary conditions on optimal LDP frequency estimation algorithms, and showing they restrict us to a specific class of combinatorial objects.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
Bringing together a collection of necessary conditions on optimal LDP frequency estimation algorithms, and showing they restrict us to a specific class of combinatorial objects.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.05110
submitted a paper to arXiv, which has already passed peer review, but I'm still staring at a wall wondering if there's anything obviously dumb I've missed
August 7, 2025 at 9:21 AM
submitted a paper to arXiv, which has already passed peer review, but I'm still staring at a wall wondering if there's anything obviously dumb I've missed
or at least makes me want to study derandomized polynomial testing
August 5, 2025 at 7:34 AM
or at least makes me want to study derandomized polynomial testing
P=BPP is so interesting a problem it almost makes me want to study complexity theory
August 5, 2025 at 7:31 AM
P=BPP is so interesting a problem it almost makes me want to study complexity theory
word: painful
LaTeX: irritating
markdown: impossible
LaTeX: irritating
markdown: impossible
July 31, 2025 at 9:20 AM
word: painful
LaTeX: irritating
markdown: impossible
LaTeX: irritating
markdown: impossible
Greatest unsolved problem of our time: creating nice tables in a document
July 31, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Greatest unsolved problem of our time: creating nice tables in a document
Does anyone know of a good collaborative pdf mark-up website or program? Kami works ok, but is a bit broken, regularly asks for permissions, and needs aggressive access to either Google drive or OneDrive
July 30, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Does anyone know of a good collaborative pdf mark-up website or program? Kami works ok, but is a bit broken, regularly asks for permissions, and needs aggressive access to either Google drive or OneDrive
God bless the LLMs: "I added a new macro for X late in writing, please identify where I've used X and replace it with the macro" is saving my life regularly (I plan my writing poorly)
July 3, 2025 at 11:12 AM
God bless the LLMs: "I added a new macro for X late in writing, please identify where I've used X and replace it with the macro" is saving my life regularly (I plan my writing poorly)
Annoyed that vscode has turned out to be the best LaTeX editor I've used so far. I'm sure nvim is competitive, but I haven't used it since undergrad
July 2, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Annoyed that vscode has turned out to be the best LaTeX editor I've used so far. I'm sure nvim is competitive, but I haven't used it since undergrad
Quite unbelievable density of cool talks going on, even while its past midnight in the US where most of these researchers are based
May 29, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Quite unbelievable density of cool talks going on, even while its past midnight in the US where most of these researchers are based