I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn.
Before, I was a PhD candidate at the Mathematical Institute of Utrecht University, working under the supervision of Gunther Cornelissen.
My research interests lie in number theory, in particular the algebraic structure and Mahler measures of (random) polynomials.
On May 26, 2026, I defended my PhD thesis titled Randomness and symmetry of polynomials. An online copy can be found here.
Research
The strong form of Van der Waerden's conjecture via twisted Chowla
With Theresa C. Anderson, Sam Chow, Rainer Dietmann, Peter Koymans, and Robert J. Lemke Oliver
arXiv:2608.22297
Relating Mahler measures and Dirichlet L-values: new evidence for Chinburg's conjectures
With Mahya Mehrabdollahei and Berend Ringeling
Submitted. arXiv:2603.20820
Irreducibility and Galois groups of random reciprocal polynomials of large degree
With Dimitris Koukoulopoulos
Submitted. arXiv:2510.18857
The asymptotic Mahler measure of Gaussian periods
With Gunther Cornelissen and Berend Ringeling
Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 133 (2026), Paper no. e70198. journal
arXiv:2507.09303
Topology of zero sets of polynomials with square discriminant
C. R. Math. Acad. Sci. Paris 364 (2026), pp. 101-106. journal
arXiv:2412.08815
Irreducibility of Littlewood polynomials of special degrees
With Lior Bary-Soroker, Gady Kozma, and Bjorn Poonen
Int. Mat. Res. Not. IMRN 2025, no. 21, rnaf326. journal
arXiv:2308.04878
Counting (skew-)reciprocal Littlewood polynomials with square discriminant
Isr. J. Math. (2026). journal
arXiv:2301.05656
Email: hokken (at) mpim-bonn.mpg.de