This book offers an overview of traditional big visual data analysis approaches and provides state-of-the-art solutions for several scene comprehension problems, indoor/outdoor classification, outdoor scene classification, and outdoor scene layout estimation. It is illustrated with numerous natural and synthetic color images, and extensive statistical analysis is provided to help readers visualize big visual data distribution and the associated problems. Although there has been some research on big visual data analysis, little work has been published on big image data distribution analysis using the modern statistical approach described in this book. By presenting a complete methodology on big visual data analysis with three illustrative scene comprehension problems, it provides a generic framework that can be applied to other big visual data analysis tasks.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings for the 26 International Workshop on combinatorial Algorithms, IWOCA 2015, held in Verona, Italy, in October 2015. The 29 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 90 submissions. The topics of the papers include algorithms and data structures (including sequential, parallel, distributed, approximation, probabilistic, randomised, and on-line algorithms), algorithms on strings and graphs; applications (bioinformatics, music analysis, networking, and others); combinatorics on words; combinatorial enumeration; combinatorial optimization; complexity theory; computational biology; compression and information retrieval; cryptography and information security; decompositions and combinatorial designs; discrete and computational geometry; graph drawing and labeling; graph theory.

This in-depth coverage of important areas of graph theory maintains a focus on symmetry properties of graphs. Standard topics on graph automorphisms are presented early on, while in later chapters more specialised topics are tackled, such as graphical regular representations and pseudosimilarity. The final four chapters are devoted to the reconstruction problem, and here special emphasis is given to those results that involve the symmetry of graphs, many of which are not to be found in other books. This second edition expands on several of the topics found in the first edition and includes both an enriched bibliography and a wide collection of exercises. Clearer proofs are provided, as are new examples of graphs with interesting symmetry properties. Any student who masters the contents of this book will be well prepared for current research in many aspects of the theory of graph automorphisms and the reconstruction problem.

The theory of random graphs is a vital part of the education of any researcher entering the fascinating world of combinatorics. However, due to their diverse nature, the geometric and structural aspects of the theory often remain an obscure part of the formative study of young combinatorialists and probabilists. Moreover, the theory itself, even in its most basic forms, is often considered too advanced to be part of undergraduate curricula, and those who are interested usually learn it mostly through self-study, covering a lot of its fundamentals but little of the more recent developments. This book provides a self-contained and concise introduction to recent developments and techniques for classical problems in the theory of random graphs. Moreover, it covers geometric and topological aspects of the theory and introduces the reader to the diversity and depth of the methods that have been devised in this context.

This volume contains a collection of clever mathematical applications of linear algebra, mainly in combinatorics, geometry, and algorithms. Each chapter covers a single main result with motivation and full proof in at most ten pages and can be read independently of all other chapters (with minor exceptions), assuming only a modest background in linear algebra. The topics include a number of well-known mathematical gems, such as Hamming codes, the matrix-tree theorem, the Lovasz bound on the Shannon capacity, and a counterexample to Borsuk's conjecture, as well as other, perhaps less popular but similarly beautiful results, e.g., fast associativity testing, a lemma of Steinitz on ordering vectors, a monotonicity result for integer partitions, or a bound for set pairs via exterior products. The simpler results in the first part of the book provide ample material to liven up an undergraduate course of linear algebra. The more advanced parts can be used for a graduate course of linear-algebraic methods or for seminar presentations. Table of Contents: Fibonacci numbers, quickly; Fibonacci numbers, the formula; The clubs of Oddtown; Same-size intersections; Error-correcting codes; Odd distances; Are these distances Euclidean?; Packing complete bipartite graphs; Equiangular lines; Where is the triangle?; Checking matrix multiplication; Tiling a rectangle by squares; Three Petersens are not enough; Petersen, Hoffman-Singleton, and maybe 57; Only two distances; Covering a cube minus one vertex; Medium-size intersection is hard to avoid; On the difficulty of reducing the diameter; The end of the small coins; Walking in the yard; Counting spanning trees; In how many ways can a man tile a board?; More bricks--more walls?; Perfect matchings and determinants; Turning a ladder over a finite field; Counting compositions; Is it associative?; The secret agent and umbrella; Shannon capacity of the union: a tale of two fields; Equilateral sets; Cutting cheaply using eigenvectors; Rotating the cube; Set pairs and exterior products; Index. (STML/53)

Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this fascinating text provides a comprehensive study of the Erdos-Ko-Rado Theorem, with a focus on algebraic methods. The authors begin by discussing well-known proofs of the EKR bound for intersecting families. The natural generalization of the EKR Theorem holds for many different objects that have a notion of intersection, and the bulk of this book focuses on algebraic proofs that can be applied to these different objects. The authors introduce tools commonly used in algebraic graph theory and show how these can be used to prove versions of the EKR Theorem. Topics include association schemes, strongly regular graphs, the Johnson scheme, the Hamming scheme and the Grassmann scheme. Readers can expand their understanding at every step with the 170 end-of-chapter exercises. The final chapter discusses in detail 15 open problems, each of which would make an interesting research project.

This is the first comprehensive monograph on the mathematical theory of the solitaire game "The Tower of Hanoi" which was invented in the 19th century by the French number theorist Edouard Lucas. The book comprises a survey of the historical development from the game's predecessors up to recent research in mathematics and applications in computer science and psychology. Apart from long-standing myths it contains a thorough, largely self-contained presentation of the essential mathematical facts with complete proofs, including also unpublished material. The main objects of research today are the so-called Hanoi graphs and the related Sierpinski graphs. Acknowledging the great popularity of the topic in computer science, algorithms and their correctness proofs form an essential part of the book. In view of the most important practical applications of the Tower of Hanoi and its variants, namely in physics, network theory, and cognitive (neuro)psychology, other related structures and puzzles like, e.g., the "Tower of London", are addressed. Numerous captivating integer sequences arise along the way, but also many open questions impose themselves. Central among these is the famed Frame-Stewart conjecture. Despite many attempts to decide it and large-scale numerical experiments supporting its truth, it remains unsettled after more than 70 years and thus demonstrates the timeliness of the topic. Enriched with elaborate illustrations, connections to other puzzles and challenges for the reader in the form of (solved) exercises as well as problems for further exploration, this book is enjoyable reading for students, educators, game enthusiasts and researchers alike.

From social networks such as Facebook, the World Wide Web and the Internet, to the complex interactions between proteins in the cells of our bodies, we constantly face the challenge of understanding the structure and development of networks. The theory of random graphs provides a framework for this understanding, and in this book the authors give a gentle introduction to the basic tools for understanding and applying the theory. Part I includes sufficient material, including exercises, for a one semester course at the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level. The reader is then well prepared for the more advanced topics in Parts II and III. A final part provides a quick introduction to the background material needed. All those interested in discrete mathematics, computer science or applied probability and their applications will find this an ideal introduction to the subject.

The authors present tools and concepts of multivariate data analysis by means of exercises and their solutions. The first part is devoted to graphical techniques. The second part deals with multivariate random variables and presents the derivation of estimators and tests for various practical situations. The last part introduces a wide variety of exercises in applied multivariate data analysis. The book demonstrates the application of simple calculus and basic multivariate methods in real life situations. It contains altogether more than 250 solved exercises which can assist a university teacher in setting up a modern multivariate analysis course. All computer-based exercises are available in the R language. All data sets are included in the library SMSdata that may be downloaded via the quantlet download center www.quantlet.org. Data sets are available also via the Springer webpage. For interactive display of low-dimensional projections of a multivariate data set, we recommend GGobi.

This is the first book to focus on the topological index, the Harary index, of a graph, including its mathematical properties, chemical applications and some related and attractive open problems. This book is dedicated to Professor Frank Harary (1921-2005), the grandmaster of graph theory and its applications. It has be written by experts in the field of graph theory and its applications. For a connected graph G, as an important distance-based topological index, the Harary index H(G) is defined as the sum of the reciprocals of the distance between any two unordered vertices of the graph G. In this book, the authors report on the newest results on the Harary index of a graph. These results mainly concern external graphs with respect to the Harary index; the relations to other topological indices; its properties and applications to pure graph theory and chemical graph theory; and two significant variants, i.e., additively and multiplicatively weighted Harary indices. In the last chapter, we present a number of open problems related to the Harary index. As such, the book will not only be of interest to graph researchers, but to mathematical chemists as well.

Written for mathematicians working with the theory of graph spectra, this book explores more than 400 inequalities for eigenvalues of the six matrices associated with finite simple graphs: the adjacency matrix, Laplacian matrix, signless Laplacian matrix, normalized Laplacian matrix, Seidel matrix, and distance matrix. The book begins with a brief survey of the main results and selected applications to related topics, including chemistry, physics, biology, computer science, and control theory. The author then proceeds to detail proofs, discussions, comparisons, examples, and exercises. Each chapter ends with a brief survey of further results. The author also points to open problems and gives ideas for further reading.

This volume contains nine survey articles based on the invited lectures given at the 25th British Combinatorial Conference, held at the University of Warwick in July 2015. This biennial conference is a well-established international event, with speakers from around the world. The volume provides an up-to-date overview of current research in several areas of combinatorics, including graph theory, Ramsey theory, combinatorial geometry and curves over finite fields. Each article is clearly written and assumes little prior knowledge on the part of the reader. The authors are some of the world's foremost researchers in their fields, and here they summarise existing results and give a unique preview of cutting-edge developments. The book provides a valuable survey of the present state of knowledge in combinatorics, and will be useful to researchers and advanced graduate students, primarily in mathematics but also in computer science and statistics.

The projective and polar geometries that arise from a vector space over a finite field are particularly useful in the construction of combinatorial objects, such as latin squares, designs, codes and graphs. This book provides an introduction to these geometries and their many applications to other areas of combinatorics. Coverage includes a detailed treatment of the forbidden subgraph problem from a geometrical point of view, and a chapter on maximum distance separable codes, which includes a proof that such codes over prime fields are short. The author also provides more than 100 exercises (complete with detailed solutions), which show the diversity of applications of finite fields and their geometries. Finite Geometry and Combinatorial Applications is ideal for anyone, from a third-year undergraduate to a researcher, who wishes to familiarise themselves with and gain an appreciation of finite geometry.

With the unifying theme of abstract evolutionary equations, both linear and nonlinear, in a complex environment, the book presents a multidisciplinary blend of topics, spanning the fields of theoretical and applied functional analysis, partial differential equations, probability theory and numerical analysis applied to various models coming from theoretical physics, biology, engineering and complexity theory. Truly unique features of the book are: the first simultaneous presentation of two complementary approaches to fragmentation and coagulation problems, by weak compactness methods and by using semigroup techniques, comprehensive exposition of probabilistic methods of analysis of long term dynamics of dynamical systems, semigroup analysis of biological problems and cutting edge pattern formation theory. The book will appeal to postgraduate students and researchers specializing in applications of mathematics to problems arising in natural sciences and engineering.

Catalan numbers are probably the most ubiquitous sequence of numbers in mathematics. This book gives for the first time a comprehensive collection of their properties and applications to combinatorics, algebra, analysis, number theory, probability theory, geometry, topology, and other areas. Following an introduction to the basic properties of Catalan numbers, the book presents 214 different kinds of objects counted by them in the form of exercises with solutions. The reader can try solving the exercises or simply browse through them. Some 68 additional exercises with prescribed difficulty levels present various properties of Catalan numbers and related numbers, such as Fuss-Catalan numbers, Motzkin numbers, Schroeder numbers, Narayana numbers, super Catalan numbers, q-Catalan numbers and (q,t)-Catalan numbers. The book ends with a history of Catalan numbers by Igor Pak and a glossary of key terms. Whether your interest in mathematics is recreation or research, you will find plenty of fascinating and stimulating facts here.

Combinatorics and Algebraic Geometry have enjoyed a fruitful interplay since the nineteenth century. Classical interactions include invariant theory, theta functions and enumerative geometry. The aim of this volume is to introduce recent developments in combinatorial algebraic geometry and to approach algebraic geometry with a view towards applications, such as tensor calculus and algebraic statistics. A common theme is the study of algebraic varieties endowed with a rich combinatorial structure. Relevant techniques include polyhedral geometry, free resolutions, multilinear algebra, projective duality and compactifications.

This thoroughly revised second edition provides an updated treatment of numerical linear algebra techniques for solving problems in data mining and pattern recognition. Adopting an application-oriented approach, the author introduces matrix theory and decompositions, describes how modern matrix methods can be applied in real life scenarios, and provides a set of tools that students can modify for a particular application. Building on material from the first edition, the author discusses basic graph concepts and their matrix counterparts. He introduces the graph Laplacian and properties of its eigenvectors needed in spectral partitioning and describes spectral graph partitioning applied to social networks and text classification. Examples are included to help readers visualize the results. This new edition also presents matrix-based methods that underlie many of the algorithms used for big data. The book provides a solid foundation to further explore related topics and presents applications such as classification of handwritten digits, text mining, text summarization, PageRank computations related to the Google search engine, and facial recognition. Exercises and computer assignments are available on a Web page that supplements the book. Matrix Methods in Data Mining and Pattern Recognition, Second Edition is primarily for undergraduate students who have previously taken an introductory scientific computing/numerical analysis course and graduate students in data mining and pattern recognition areas who need an introduction to linear algebra techniques.

Presenting the state of the art, the Handbook of Enumerative Combinatorics brings together the work of today's most prominent researchers. The contributors survey the methods of combinatorial enumeration along with the most frequent applications of these methods. This important new work is edited by Miklos Bona of the University of Florida where he is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997. Miklos is the author of four books and more than 65 research articles, including the award-winning Combinatorics of Permutations. Miklos Bona is an editor-in-chief for the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics and Series Editor of the Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications Series for CRC Press/Chapman and Hall. The first two chapters provide a comprehensive overview of the most frequently used methods in combinatorial enumeration, including algebraic, geometric, and analytic methods. These chapters survey generating functions, methods from linear algebra, partially ordered sets, polytopes, hyperplane arrangements, and matroids. Subsequent chapters illustrate applications of these methods for counting a wide array of objects. The contributors for this book represent an international spectrum of researchers with strong histories of results. The chapters are organized so readers advance from the more general ones, namely enumeration methods, towards the more specialized ones. Topics include coverage of asymptotic normality in enumeration, planar maps, graph enumeration, Young tableaux, unimodality, log-concavity, real zeros, asymptotic normality, trees, generalized Catalan paths, computerized enumeration schemes, enumeration of various graph classes, words, tilings, pattern avoidance, computer algebra, and parking functions. This book will be beneficial to a wide audience. It will appeal to experts on the topic interested in learning more about the finer points, readers interested in a systematic and organized treatment of the topic, and novices who are new to the field.

VII Preface In many fields of mathematics, geometry has established itself as a fruitful method and common language for describing basic phenomena and problems as well as suggesting ways of solutions. Especially in pure mathematics this is ob vious and well-known (examples are the much discussed interplay between lin ear algebra and analytical geometry and several problems in multidimensional analysis). On the other hand, many specialists from applied mathematics seem to prefer more formal analytical and numerical methods and representations. Nevertheless, very often the internal development of disciplines from applied mathematics led to geometric models, and occasionally breakthroughs were b ed on geometric insights. An excellent example is the Klee-Minty cube, solving a problem of linear programming by transforming it into a geomet ric problem. Also the development of convex programming in recent decades demonstrated the power of methods that evolved within the field of convex geometry. The present book focuses on three applied disciplines: control theory, location science and computational geometry. It is our aim to demonstrate how methods and topics from convex geometry in a wider sense (separation theory of convex cones, Minkowski geometry, convex partitionings, etc.) can help to solve various problems from these disciplines."

Adapted from a modular undergraduate course on computational mathematics, Concise Computer Mathematics delivers an easily accessible, self-contained introduction to the basic notions of mathematics necessary for a computer science degree. The text reflects the need to quickly introduce students from a variety of educational backgrounds to a number of essential mathematical concepts. The material is divided into four units: discrete mathematics (sets, relations, functions), logic (Boolean types, truth tables, proofs), linear algebra (vectors, matrices and graphics), and special topics (graph theory, number theory, basic elements of calculus). The chapters contain a brief theoretical presentation of the topic, followed by a selection of problems (which are direct applications of the theory) and additional supplementary problems (which may require a bit more work). Each chapter ends with answers or worked solutions for all of the problems.

This book, first published in 1991, is devoted to the exposition of combinatorial matrix theory. This subject concerns itself with the use of matrix theory and linear algebra in proving results in combinatorics (and vice versa), and with the intrinsic properties of matrices viewed as arrays of numbers rather than algebraic objects in themselves. There are chapters dealing with the many connections between matrices, graphs, digraphs and bipartite graphs. The basic theory of network flows is developed in order to obtain existence theorems for matrices with prescribed combinatorial properties and to obtain various matrix decomposition theorems. Other chapters cover the permanent of a matrix, and Latin squares. The final chapter deals with algebraic characterizations of combinatorial properties and the use of combinatorial arguments in proving classical algebraic theorems, including the Cayley-Hamilton Theorem and the Jordan Canonical Form. The book is sufficiently self-contained for use as a graduate course text, but complete enough for a standard reference work on the basic theory. Thus it will be an essential purchase for combinatorialists, matrix theorists, and those numerical analysts working in numerical linear algebra.

This volume contains nine survey articles based on the invited lectures given at the 24th British Combinatorial Conference, held at Royal Holloway, University of London in July 2013. This biennial conference is a well-established international event, with speakers from around the world. The volume provides an up-to-date overview of current research in several areas of combinatorics, including graph theory, matroid theory and automatic counting, as well as connections to coding theory and Bent functions. Each article is clearly written and assumes little prior knowledge on the part of the reader. The authors are some of the world's foremost researchers in their fields, and here they summarise existing results and give a unique preview of cutting-edge developments. The book provides a valuable survey of the present state of knowledge in combinatorics, and will be useful to researchers and advanced graduate students, primarily in mathematics but also in computer science and statistics.

Journey into Discrete Mathematics is designed for use in a first course in mathematical abstraction for early-career undergraduate mathematics majors. The important ideas of discrete mathematics are included-logic, sets, proof writing, relations, counting, number theory, and graph theory-in a manner that promotes development of a mathematical mindset and prepares students for further study. While the treatment is designed to prepare the student reader for the mathematics major, the book remains attractive and appealing to students of computer science and other problem-solving disciplines. The exposition is exquisite and engaging and features detailed descriptions of the thought processes that one might follow to attack the problems of mathematics. The problems are appealing and vary widely in depth and difficulty. Careful design of the book helps the student reader learn to think like a mathematician through the exposition and the problems provided. Several of the core topics, including counting, number theory, and graph theory, are visited twice: once in an introductory manner and then again in a later chapter with more advanced concepts and with a deeper perspective. Owen D. Byer and Deirdre L. Smeltzer are both Professors of Mathematics at Eastern Mennonite University. Kenneth L. Wantz is Professor of Mathematics at Regent University. Collectively the authors have specialized expertise and research publications ranging widely over discrete mathematics and have over fifty semesters of combined experience in teaching this subject.

This book takes the reader on a journey through Ramsey theory, from graph theory and combinatorics to set theory to logic and metamathematics. Written in an informal style with few requisites, it develops two basic principles of Ramsey theory: many combinatorial properties persist under partitions, but to witness this persistence, one has to start with very large objects. The interplay between those two principles not only produces beautiful theorems but also touches the very foundations of mathematics. In the course of this book, the reader will learn about both aspects. Among the topics explored are Ramsey's theorem for graphs and hypergraphs, van der Waerden's theorem on arithmetic progressions, infinite ordinals and cardinals, fast growing functions, logic and provability, Godel incompleteness, and the Paris-Harrington theorem. Quoting from the book, ``There seems to be a murky abyss lurking at the bottom of mathematics. While in many ways we cannot hope to reach solid ground, mathematicians have built impressive ladders that let us explore the depths of this abyss and marvel at the limits and at the power of mathematical reasoning at the same time. Ramsey theory is one of those ladders.'' This book is published in cooperation with Mathematics Advanced Study Semesters.

The 400-year-old Kepler conjecture asserts that no packing of congruent balls in three dimensions can have a density exceeding the familiar pyramid-shaped cannonball arrangement. In this book, a new proof of the conjecture is presented that makes it accessible for the first time to a broad mathematical audience. The book also presents solutions to other previously unresolved conjectures in discrete geometry, including the strong dodecahedral conjecture on the smallest surface area of a Voronoi cell in a sphere packing. This book is also currently being used as a blueprint for a large-scale formal proof project, which aims to check every logical inference of the proof of the Kepler conjecture by computer. This is an indispensable resource for those who want to be brought up to date with research on the Kepler conjecture.