Enumerative Combinatorics · Spring 2020
MAD 6206
Instructor
- ClassroomScience Building (SE-43) 215
- InstructorZvi Rosen
- Emailrosenz@fau.edu
- OfficeScience Building (SE-43) 224
- Office HoursTBD at first class meeting
Texts
Course Textbook: Enumerative Combinatorics, volume 1 by Richard Stanley, available for purchase at the bookstore, or at Amazon, or for FREE on the author's website.
Other Recommended Texts:
- generatingfunctionology, by Herbert S. Wilf.
- Combinatorial Species and Tree-like Structures, by François Bergeron, Gilbert Labelle, and Pierre Leroux.
- Analytic Combinatorics, by Philippe Flajolet and Robert Sedgewick.
Occasional class business (e.g. grades) will be managed on the Canvas site, but most material will be posted here. Course syllabus: pdf.
Grading
Grades for this class will be composed of:
- 60% — Problem Sets.
- 40% — Presentation.
Attendance is expected but is not a component of the grade.
Course Readings
This is a tentative outline of the course, which will change over the course of the semester. You are encouraged to keep up with readings from EC (Enumerative Combinatorics by Stanley). Readings from other texts will be useful as reference, but are not required.
| Week of | Tuesday | Thursday |
|---|---|---|
| 1/13 | EC 1.1 | EC 1.9 |
| 1/20 | EC 1.2 | EC 1.3-1.4 |
| 1/27 | EC 1.5 | EC 1.8 |
| 2/3 | BLL 1.1-1.3 | BLL 1.4 |
| 2/10 | BLL Apdx 1 | 1.10 |
| 2/17 | EC 2.1-2.2 | EC 2.3 |
| 2/24 | EC 2.4 | EC 2.5 |
| 3/2 | EC 2.6 | EC 2.7 |
| 3/9 | Spring Break | Spring Break |
| 3/16 | EC 3.1 | EC 3.2 |
| 3/23 | EC 3.3 | EC 3.4-3.5 |
| 3/30 | EC 3.6 | EC 3.7-3.8 |
| 4/6 | EC 3.9-3.10 | EC 3.11 |
| 4/13 | Student | Student |
| 4/20 | Student | Student |
Problem Sets
Assignments will be posted here at least 2 weeks before they are due.
- Problem Set 1, due February 13.
- Problem Set 2, due March 4.
- Problem Set 3, due April 8.
Please focus on clarity of presentation and communication in your writeups. The writeup may be submitted via e-mail or in a physical copy during class. You are encouraged to work with your classmates, but please write up your solutions independently.
Presentations
At the end of the semester a number of classes will be devoted to student presentations. The presentations will last 80 minutes (a full class period) and they will be either:
- Exposition of a topic in combinatorics not discussed in the semester, or
- Presentation of a research paper in combinatorics.
The first part of this assignment is a written proposal, due March 24, giving an outline of what you would like to present. I will return notes and suggested modifications. The presentations will be on the last n sessions of the semester.
Presentation Materials:
- Christian Corbett: Illuminating the Dovetail's Lair — Video, Slides.
- Lariza Ramsammy: Ramsey Theory — Video, Slides.
- David Snyder: Virtual and Gamma Species — Exposition.