Tim Hoffmann

dblp:60/5226 · DBLP profile ↗
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15ranked-venue papers
1as first author
9since 2021 · last 2026
—ORCID · conflict

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Graphics, computer vision, multimedia, augmented reality and games · 10 · 1 first-author · 4 since 2021Artificial intelligence and machine learning · 6 · 6 since 2021Theory of computation · 3 · 3 since 2021
YearPublicationVenuePosition
2026 Proof Systems for Tensor-based Model Counting
abstract
Solving the model counting problem #SAT, asking for the number of satisfying assignments of a propositional formula, has been explored intensively and has gathered its own community. While most existing solvers are based on knowledge compilation, another promising approach is through contraction in tensor hypernetworks. We perform a theoretical proof-complexity analysis of this approach. For this, we design two new tensor-based proof systems that we show to tightly correspond to tensor-based #SAT solving. We determine the simulation order of #SAT proof systems and prove exponential separations between the systems. This sheds light on the relative performance of different #SAT solving approaches.
Olaf Beyersdorff, Joachim Giesen, Andreas Goral, Tim Hoffmann, Kaspar Kasche, Christoph Staudt
AAAI4
2026 Proof Systems That Tightly Characterise Model Counting Algorithms
abstract
Several proof systems for model counting have been introduced in recent years, mainly in an attempt to model #SAT solving and to allow proof logging of solvers. We reexamine these different approaches and show that: (i) with moderate adaptations, the conceptually quite different proof models of the dynamic system MICE and the static system of annotated Decision-DNNFs are equivalent and (ii) they tightly characterise state-of-the-art #SAT solving. Thus, these proof systems provide a precise and robust proof-theoretic underpinning of current model counting. We also propose new strengthenings of these proof systems that might lead to stronger model counters.
Olaf Beyersdorff, Tim Hoffmann, Kaspar Kasche
AAAI2
2026 The Relative Strength of #SAT Proof Systems
abstract
Abstract The propositional model counting problem #SAT asks to compute the number of satisfying assignments for a given propositional formula. Recently, three #SAT proof systems $$\textsf{kcps}$$ kcps (knowledge compilation proof system), $$\textsf{MICE}$$ MICE (model counting induction by claim extension), and $$\textsf{CPOG}$$ CPOG (certified partitioned-operation graphs) have been introduced with the aim to model #SAT solving and enable proof logging for solvers. A fourth system, $$\textsf{CLIP}$$ CLIP (circuit linear introduction proposition), is a very powerful proof system of theoretical interest. Prior to this paper, it was only known that $$\textsf{CLIP}$$ CLIP simulates the three other systems. All the remaining relations between the systems have been unclear and very few proof complexity results are known. We completely determine the simulation order of the four systems, establishing that $$\textsf{CPOG}$$ CPOG simulates both $$\textsf{MICE}$$ MICE and $$\textsf{kcps}$$ kcps , while $$\textsf{MICE}$$ MICE and $$\textsf{kcps}$$ kcps are exponentially incomparable. This implies that $$\textsf{CPOG}$$ CPOG is strictly stronger than the other two systems.
Olaf Beyersdorff, Johannes Klaus Fichte, Markus Hecher, Tim Hoffmann, Lea Kasche
J. Autom. Reason.4
2025 Exploiting Dynamic Sparsity in Einsum
abstract
Einsum expressions specify an output tensor in terms of several input tensors. They offer a simple yet expressive abstraction for many computational tasks in artificial intelligence and beyond. However, evaluating einsum expressions poses hard algorithmic problems that depend on the representation of the tensors. Two popular representations are multidimensional arrays and coordinate lists. The latter is a more compact representation for sparse tensors, that is, tensors where a significant proportion of the entries are zero. So far, however, most of the popular einsum implementations use the multidimensional array representation for tensors. Here, we show on a non-trivial example that, when evaluating einsum expressions, coordinate lists can be exponentially more efficient than multidimensional arrays. In practice, however, coordinate lists can also be significantly less efficient than multidimensional arrays, but it is hard to decide from the input tensors whether this will be the case. Sparsity evolves dynamically in intermediate tensors during the evaluation of an einsum expression. Therefore, we introduce a hybrid solution where the representation is switched on the fly from multidimensional arrays to coordinate lists depending on the sparsity of the remaining tensors. In our experiments on established benchmark einsum expressions, the hybrid solution is consistently competitive with or outperforms the better of the two static representations.
Christoph Staudt, Mark Blacher, Tim Hoffmann, Lea Kasche, Olaf Beyersdorff, Joachim Giesen
NeurIPS3
2024 Polynomial Calculus for Quantified Boolean Logic: Lower Bounds Through Circuits and Degree
Olaf Beyersdorff, Tim Hoffmann, Kaspar Kasche, Luc Nicolas Spachmann
MFCS2
2024 The Relative Strength of #SAT Proof Systems
Olaf Beyersdorff, Johannes Klaus Fichte, Markus Hecher, Tim Hoffmann, Kaspar Kasche
SAT4
2023 Proof Complexity of Propositional Model Counting
Olaf Beyersdorff, Tim Hoffmann, Luc Nicolas Spachmann
SAT2
2022 Dev2PQ: Planar Quadrilateral Strip Remeshing of Developable Surfaces
abstract
We introduce an algorithm to remesh triangle meshes representing developable surfaces to planar quad dominant meshes. The output of our algorithm consists of planar quadrilateral (PQ) strips that are aligned to principal curvature directions and closely approximate the curved parts of the input developable, and planar polygons representing the flat parts of the input that connect the PQ strips. Developable PQ-strip meshes are useful in many areas of shape modeling, thanks to the simplicity of fabrication from flat sheet material. Unfortunately, they are difficult to model due to their restrictive combinatorics. Other representations of developable surfaces, such as arbitrary triangle or quad meshes, are more suitable for interactive freeform modeling but generally have non-planar faces or are not aligned to principal curvatures. Our method leverages the modeling flexibility of non-ruling-based representations of developable surfaces while still obtaining developable, curvature-aligned PQ-strip meshes. Our algorithm optimizes for a scalar function on the input mesh, such that its isolines are extrinsically straight and align well to the locally estimated ruling directions. The condition that guarantees straight isolines is non-linear of high order and numerically difficult to enforce in a straightforward manner. We devise an alternating optimization method that makes our problem tractable and practical to compute. Our method works automatically on any developable input, including multiple patches and curved folds, without explicit domain decomposition. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on a variety of developable surfaces and show how our remeshing can be used alongside handle-based interactive freeform modeling of developable shapes.
Floor Verhoeven, Amir Vaxman, Tim Hoffmann, Olga Sorkine-Hornung
ACM Trans. Graph.3
2021 A Curvature and Density-based Generative Representation of Shapes
abstract
Abstract This paper introduces a generative model for 3D surfaces based on a representation of shapes with mean curvature and metric, which are invariant under rigid transformation. Hence, compared with existing 3D machine learning frameworks, our model substantially reduces the influence of translation and rotation. In addition, the local structure of shapes will be more precisely captured, since the curvature is explicitly encoded in our model. Specifically, every surface is first conformally mapped to a canonical domain, such as a unit disk or a unit sphere. Then, it is represented by two functions: the mean curvature half‐density and the vertex density, over this canonical domain. Assuming that input shapes follow a certain distribution in a latent space, we use the variational autoencoder to learn the latent space representation. After the learning, we can generate variations of shapes by randomly sampling the distribution in the latent space. Surfaces with triangular meshes can be reconstructed from the generated data by applying isotropic remeshing and spin transformation, which is given by Dirac equation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our model on datasets of man‐made and biological shapes and compare the results with other methods.
Nobuyuki Umetani, Takeo Igarashi, Tim Hoffmann
Comput. Graph. Forum4
2019 Modeling curved folding with freeform deformations
abstract
We present a computational framework for interactive design and exploration of curved folded surfaces. In current practice, such surfaces are typically created manually using physical paper, and hence our objective is to lay the foundations for the digitalization of curved folded surface design. Our main contribution is a discrete binary characterization for folds between discrete developable surfaces, accompanied by an algorithm to simultaneously fold creases and smoothly bend planar sheets. We complement our algorithm with essential building blocks for curved folding deformations: objectives to control dihedral angles and mountain-valley assignments. We apply our machinery to build the first interactive freeform editing tool capable of modeling bending and folding of complicated crease patterns.
Michael Rabinovich, Tim Hoffmann, Olga Sorkine-Hornung
ACM Trans. Graph.2
2018 A unified discrete framework for intrinsic and extrinsic Dirac operators for geometry processing
abstract
Abstract Spectral mesh analysis and processing methods, namely ones that utilize eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of linear operators on meshes, have been applied to numerous geometric processing applications. The operator used predominantly in these methods is the Laplace‐Beltrami operator, which has the often‐cited property that it is intrinsic, namely invariant to isometric deformation of the underlying geometry, including rigid transformations. Depending on the application, this can be either an advantage or a drawback. Recent work has proposed the alternative of using the Dirac operator on surfaces for spectral processing. The available versions of the Dirac operator either only focus on the extrinsic version, or introduce a range of mixed operators on a spectrum between fully extrinsic Dirac operator and intrinsic Laplace operator. In this work, we introduce a unified discretization scheme that describes both an extrinsic and intrinsic Dirac operator on meshes, based on their continuous counterparts on smooth manifolds. In this discretization, both operators are very closely related, and preserve their key properties from the smooth case. We showcase various applications of our operators, with improved numerics over prior work.
Olga Diamanti, Chengcheng Tang, Leonidas J. Guibas, Tim Hoffmann
Comput. Graph. Forum5
2018 Discrete Geodesic Nets for Modeling Developable Surfaces
abstract
We present a discrete theory for modeling developable surfaces as quadrilateral meshes satisfying simple angle constraints. The basis of our model is a lesser-known characterization of developable surfaces as manifolds that can be parameterized through orthogonal geodesics. Our model is simple and local, and, unlike in previous works, it does not directly encode the surface rulings. This allows us to model continuous deformations of discrete developable surfaces independently of their decomposition into torsal and planar patches or the surface topology. We prove and experimentally demonstrate strong ties to smooth developable surfaces, including a theorem stating that every sampling of the smooth counterpart satisfies our constraints up to second order. We further present an extension of our model that enables a local definition of discrete isometry. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our discrete model in a developable surface editing system, as well as computation of an isometric interpolation between isometric discrete developable shapes.
Michael Rabinovich, Tim Hoffmann, Olga Sorkine-Hornung
ACM Trans. Graph.2
2018 The shape space of discrete orthogonal geodesic nets
abstract
Discrete orthogonal geodesic nets (DOGs) are a quad mesh analogue of developable surfaces. In this work we study continuous deformations on these discrete objects. Our main theoretical contribution is the characterization of the shape space of DOGs for a given net connectivity. We show that generally, this space is locally a manifold of a fixed dimension, apart from a set of singularities, implying that DOGs are continuously deformable. Smooth flows can be constructed by a smooth choice of vectors on the manifold's tangent spaces, selected to minimize a desired objective function under a given metric. We show how to compute such vectors by solving a linear system, and we use our findings to devise a geometrically meaningful way to handle singular points. We base our shape space metric on a novel DOG Laplacian operator, which is proved to converge under sampling of an analytical orthogonal geodesic net. We further show how to extend the shape space of DOGs by supporting creases and curved folds and apply the developed tools in an editing system for developable surfaces that supports arbitrary bending, stretching, cutting, (curved) folds, as well as smoothing and subdivision operations.
Michael Rabinovich, Tim Hoffmann, Olga Sorkine-Hornung
ACM Trans. Graph.2
2016 A 2× Lax Representation, Associated Family, and Bäcklund Transformation for Circular K-Nets
Tim Hoffmann, Andrew O. Sageman-Furnas
Discret. Comput. Geom.1
2009 jReality: a java library for real-time interactive 3D graphics and audio
abstract
We introduce jReality, a Java library for creating real-time interactive audiovisual applications with three-dimensional computer graphics and spatialized audio. Applications written for jReality will run unchanged on software and hardware platforms ranging from desktop machines with a single screen and stereo speakers to immersive virtual environments with motion tracking, multiple screens with 3D stereo projection, and multi-channel audio.
Steffen Weißmann, Charles Gunn, Peter Brinkmann, Tim Hoffmann, Ulrich Pinkall
ACM Multimedia4