Advanced Combinatorics


Book Description

Notwithstanding its title, the reader will not find in this book a systematic account of this huge subject. Certain classical aspects have been passed by, and the true title ought to be "Various questions of elementary combina torial analysis". For instance, we only touch upon the subject of graphs and configurations, but there exists a very extensive and good literature on this subject. For this we refer the reader to the bibliography at the end of the volume. The true beginnings of combinatorial analysis (also called combina tory analysis) coincide with the beginnings of probability theory in the 17th century. For about two centuries it vanished as an autonomous sub ject. But the advance of statistics, with an ever-increasing demand for configurations as well as the advent and development of computers, have, beyond doubt, contributed to reinstating this subject after such a long period of negligence. For a long time the aim of combinatorial analysis was to count the different ways of arranging objects under given circumstances. Hence, many of the traditional problems of analysis or geometry which are con cerned at a certain moment with finite structures, have a combinatorial character. Today, combinatorial analysis is also relevant to problems of existence, estimation and structuration, like all other parts of mathema tics, but exclusively forjinite sets.




Analytic Combinatorics


Book Description

Analytic combinatorics aims to enable precise quantitative predictions of the properties of large combinatorial structures. The theory has emerged over recent decades as essential both for the analysis of algorithms and for the study of scientific models in many disciplines, including probability theory, statistical physics, computational biology, and information theory. With a careful combination of symbolic enumeration methods and complex analysis, drawing heavily on generating functions, results of sweeping generality emerge that can be applied in particular to fundamental structures such as permutations, sequences, strings, walks, paths, trees, graphs and maps. This account is the definitive treatment of the topic. The authors give full coverage of the underlying mathematics and a thorough treatment of both classical and modern applications of the theory. The text is complemented with exercises, examples, appendices and notes to aid understanding. The book can be used for an advanced undergraduate or a graduate course, or for self-study.




Advanced Graph Theory and Combinatorics


Book Description

Advanced Graph Theory focuses on some of the main notions arising in graph theory with an emphasis from the very start of the book on the possible applications of the theory and the fruitful links existing with linear algebra. The second part of the book covers basic material related to linear recurrence relations with application to counting and the asymptotic estimate of the rate of growth of a sequence satisfying a recurrence relation.




Additive Combinatorics


Book Description

Additive combinatorics is the theory of counting additive structures in sets. This theory has seen exciting developments and dramatic changes in direction in recent years thanks to its connections with areas such as number theory, ergodic theory and graph theory. This graduate-level 2006 text will allow students and researchers easy entry into this fascinating field. Here, the authors bring together in a self-contained and systematic manner the many different tools and ideas that are used in the modern theory, presenting them in an accessible, coherent, and intuitively clear manner, and providing immediate applications to problems in additive combinatorics. The power of these tools is well demonstrated in the presentation of recent advances such as Szemerédi's theorem on arithmetic progressions, the Kakeya conjecture and Erdos distance problems, and the developing field of sum-product estimates. The text is supplemented by a large number of exercises and new results.




Analytic Combinatorics in Several Variables


Book Description

Aimed at graduate students and researchers in enumerative combinatorics, this book is the first to treat the analytic aspects of combinatorial enumeration from a multivariate perspective.




Combinatorics: The Art of Counting


Book Description

This book is a gentle introduction to the enumerative part of combinatorics suitable for study at the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level. In addition to covering all the standard techniques for counting combinatorial objects, the text contains material from the research literature which has never before appeared in print, such as the use of quotient posets to study the Möbius function and characteristic polynomial of a partially ordered set, or the connection between quasisymmetric functions and pattern avoidance. The book assumes minimal background, and a first course in abstract algebra should suffice. The exposition is very reader friendly: keeping a moderate pace, using lots of examples, emphasizing recurring themes, and frankly expressing the delight the author takes in mathematics in general and combinatorics in particular.




Algebraic Combinatorics


Book Description

Written by one of the foremost experts in the field, Algebraic Combinatorics is a unique undergraduate textbook that will prepare the next generation of pure and applied mathematicians. The combination of the author’s extensive knowledge of combinatorics and classical and practical tools from algebra will inspire motivated students to delve deeply into the fascinating interplay between algebra and combinatorics. Readers will be able to apply their newfound knowledge to mathematical, engineering, and business models. The text is primarily intended for use in a one-semester advanced undergraduate course in algebraic combinatorics, enumerative combinatorics, or graph theory. Prerequisites include a basic knowledge of linear algebra over a field, existence of finite fields, and group theory. The topics in each chapter build on one another and include extensive problem sets as well as hints to selected exercises. Key topics include walks on graphs, cubes and the Radon transform, the Matrix–Tree Theorem, and the Sperner property. There are also three appendices on purely enumerative aspects of combinatorics related to the chapter material: the RSK algorithm, plane partitions, and the enumeration of labeled trees. Richard Stanley is currently professor of Applied Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stanley has received several awards including the George Polya Prize in applied combinatorics, the Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Leroy P. Steele Prize for mathematical exposition. Also by the author: Combinatorics and Commutative Algebra, Second Edition, © Birkhauser.




Geometric Combinatorics


Book Description

Geometric combinatorics describes a wide area of mathematics that is primarily the study of geometric objects and their combinatorial structure. This text is a compilation of expository articles at the interface between combinatorics and geometry.




Combinatorics


Book Description

Combinatorics is a subject of increasing importance because of its links with computer science, statistics, and algebra. This textbook stresses common techniques (such as generating functions and recursive construction) that underlie the great variety of subject matter, and the fact that a constructive or algorithmic proof is more valuable than an existence proof. The author emphasizes techniques as well as topics and includes many algorithms described in simple terms. The text should provide essential background for students in all parts of discrete mathematics.




Walk Through Combinatorics, A: An Introduction To Enumeration And Graph Theory (Third Edition)


Book Description

This is a textbook for an introductory combinatorics course lasting one or two semesters. An extensive list of problems, ranging from routine exercises to research questions, is included. In each section, there are also exercises that contain material not explicitly discussed in the preceding text, so as to provide instructors with extra choices if they want to shift the emphasis of their course.Just as with the first two editions, the new edition walks the reader through the classic parts of combinatorial enumeration and graph theory, while also discussing some recent progress in the area: on the one hand, providing material that will help students learn the basic techniques, and on the other hand, showing that some questions at the forefront of research are comprehensible and accessible to the talented and hardworking undergraduate. The basic topics discussed are: the twelvefold way, cycles in permutations, the formula of inclusion and exclusion, the notion of graphs and trees, matchings, Eulerian and Hamiltonian cycles, and planar graphs.The selected advanced topics are: Ramsey theory, pattern avoidance, the probabilistic method, partially ordered sets, the theory of designs (new to this edition), enumeration under group action (new to this edition), generating functions of labeled and unlabeled structures and algorithms and complexity.As the goal of the book is to encourage students to learn more combinatorics, every effort has been made to provide them with a not only useful, but also enjoyable and engaging reading.The Solution Manual is available upon request for all instructors who adopt this book as a course text. Please send your request to [email protected].