Yoav Kolumbus
Cornell University
The Center for Data Science for Enterprise and Society, Computer Science, Economics
105E Gates Hall
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I am an Assistant Research Professor of Computer Science and Economics at Cornell University (a postdoc position hosted by Cornell's Center for Data Science for Enterprise and Society). I am fortunate to be mentored by Éva Tardos, David Easley, and Robert Kleinberg. Prior to my postdoctoral studies at Cornell, I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Hebrew University, advised by Noam Nisan. Before my Ph.D. studies, I completed my B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the supervision of Sorin Solomon, as well as a Bachelor's degree in music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music, where I studied classical and jazz double bass with Michael Klinghoffer.
I am interested in topics at the interface of machine learning & AI, algorithmic game theory, dynamical systems, and networks, with a focus on learning in games and interactions between learning and strategic play in multi-agent systems. My recent work studies how algorithmic learning agents impact markets, game dynamics, and user incentives in application domains such as online auctions, portfolio optimization, and contract design.
[CV] [Google Scholar]
Email: yoav.kolumbus@cornell.edu
Research:
Publications
Markets with Heterogeneous Agents: Dynamics and Survival of Bayesian vs. No-Regret Learners (EC 2025, R&R at Management Science) [PDF]
With David Easley and Éva Tardos
INFORMS 2025 Award Session for Selected Auctions & Market Design Papers from EC 2025
Recording: EC 2025 (20 minutes)
Learning in Budgeted Auctions with Spacing Objectives (EC 2025) [PDF]
With Giannis Fikioris, Robert Kleinberg, Raunak Kumar, Yishay Mansour, and Éva Tardos
Contracting with a Learning Agent (NeurIPS 2024) [PDF]
With Inbal Talgam-Cohen, Matt Weinberg, Guru Guruganesh, Manolis Vlatakis, Joshua Wang, and Jon Schneider
Recording: NeurIPS 2024 (5 minutes)
Asynchronous Proportional Response Dynamics: Convergence in Markets with Adversarial Scheduling (NeurIPS 2023) [PDF]
With Menahem Levy and Noam Nisan
Auctions between Regret-Minimizing Agents (WWW 2022) [PDF]
With Noam Nisan
Invited to the Spotlight Beyond WINE '22 special session.
Recordings: WWW '22 talk (15 minutes), AGT - Past Present & Future (30 minutes)
How and Why to Manipulate Your Own Agent (NeurIPS 2022) [PDF]
With Noam Nisan
Invited to the Spotlight Beyond WINE '22 special session.
Recording: INFORMS 2024 (12 minutes)
Reinforcement Learning Explanation via Model Transforms (NeurIPS 2022) [PDF]
With Mira Finkelstein, Nitsan S. Levy, Lucy Liu, David C. Parkes, Jeffrey S. Rosenschein, and Sarah Keren
Optimal Collaterals in Multi-Enterprise Investment Networks (WWW 2022) [PDF]
With Moshe Babaioff and Eyal Winter
Recording: WWW '22 talk (15 minutes)
On the Effectiveness of Tracking and Testing in SEIR Models for Health vs. Economy Trade-Offs (Scientific Reports 2021) [PDF]
With Noam Nisan
On the Influence Maximization Problem and the Percolation Phase Transition (Physica A 2021) [PDF]
With Sorin Solomon
Neural Networks for Predicting Human Interactions in Repeated Games (IJCAI 2019) [PDF]
With Gali Noti
Crystallographic Orientation Errors in Mechanical Exfoliation (Condensed Matter 2018) [PDF]
With Ayelet Zalic, Natalie F. Melamed, Zahava Barkay, Dvir Rotem, Danny Porath, and Hadar Steinberg
Working Papers
Games with Payments between Learning Agents [PDF]
With Éva Tardos and Joe Halpern
Learning in Strategic Queuing Systems with Small Buffers [PDF]
With Éva Tardos, Ariana Abel, and Jeronimo Martın Duque
Learning and Competition in Market Making (tentative title)
With David Easley, Maureen O’Hara, and Éva Tardos
Multi-Agent Auctions with Temporal Spacing Preferences (tentative title)
With Giannis Fikioris, Robert Kleinberg, Raunak Kumar, Yishay Mansour, and Éva Tardos
Learning with Confirmation Bias (tentative title)
With Gali Noti and Joe Halpern
Game Manipulators: the Strategic Implications of Binding Contracts [PDF]
With Maria Alejandra Ramirez, Rosemarie Nagel, David Wolpert, and Jürgen Jost
Technical Report
Behavior-Based Machine-Learning: A Hybrid Approach for Predicting Human Decision Making (2016) [PDF]
With Gali Noti, Effi Levi, and Amit Daniely
Selected Talks
January 2026: Seminar at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
October 2025: Invited talk at the Young Researchers Workshop, Cornell University
October 2025: Invited talk at the INFORMS 2025 Annual Meeting -- Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (MSOM) session
October 2025: Invited talk at the INFORMS 2025 Annual Meeting -- Award Session for Selected Auctions & Market Design Papers from EC 2025
July 2025: EC 2025, Stanford. Markets with Heterogeneous Agents: Dynamics and Survival of Bayesian vs. No-Regret Learners [Recording]
July 2025: Invited talk at the EC 2025 Workshop on Swap Regret and Strategic Learning, Stanford
April 2025: USC Mathematical Finance Colloquium [Talk details]
April 2025: Harvard EconCS seminar [Talk details]
December 2024: NeurIPS 2024, Vancouver, Canada. Contracting with a Learning Agent [Recording]
October 2024: Invited talk at the INFORMS 2024 Annual Meeting [Recording]
July 2024: Invited tutorial on Strategic Play with Learning Agents, with Jon Schneider, at EC 2024 [Webpage] [Recording]
July 2024: Stony Brook International Conference on Game Theory
August 2024: ESIF Economics and AI+ML Meeting, Cornell University
Music:
I am also a professionally trained musician in classical and Jazz Double bass performance. Check Spotify to listen to an album of my compositions, or check out the links on the right.
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