This volume provides an up-to-date survey of current research activity in several areas of combinatorics and its applications. These include distance-regular graphs, combinatorial designs, coding theory, spectra of graphs, and randomness and computation. The articles give an overview of combinatorics that will be extremely useful to both mathematicians and computer scientists.

Most coding theory experts date the origin of the subject with the 1948 publication of A Mathematical Theory of Communication by Claude Shannon. Since then, coding theory has grown into a discipline with many practical applications (antennas, networks, memories), requiring various mathematical techniques, from commutative algebra, to semi-definite programming, to algebraic geometry. Most topics covered in the Concise Encyclopedia of Coding Theory are presented in short sections at an introductory level and progress from basic to advanced level, with definitions, examples, and many references. The book is divided into three parts: Part I fundamentals: cyclic codes, skew cyclic codes, quasi-cyclic codes, self-dual codes, codes and designs, codes over rings, convolutional codes, performance bounds Part II families: AG codes, group algebra codes, few-weight codes, Boolean function codes, codes over graphs Part III applications: alternative metrics, algorithmic techniques, interpolation decoding, pseudo-random sequences, lattices, quantum coding, space-time codes, network coding, distributed storage, secret-sharing, and code-based-cryptography. Features Suitable for students and researchers in a wide range of mathematical disciplines Contains many examples and references Most topics take the reader to the frontiers of research

Applications of Davenport-Schinzel sequences arise in areas as diverse as robot motion planning, computer graphics and vision, and pattern matching. These sequences exhibit some surprising properties that make them a fascinating subject for research in combinatorial analysis. This book provides a comprehensive study of the combinatorial properties of Davenport-Schinzel sequences and their numerous geometric applications. These sequences are sophisticated tools for solving problems in computational and combinatorial geometry. This first book on the subject by two of its leading researchers will be an important resource for students and professionals in combinatorics, computational geometry, and related fields.

George Andrews is one of the most influential figures in number theory and combinatorics. In the theory of partitions and q-hypergeometric series and in the study of Ramanujan's work, he is the unquestioned leader. To suitably honor him during his 70th birthday year, an International Conference on Combinatory Analysis was held at The Pennsylvania State University during December 5-7, 2008. Three issues of the Ramanujan Journal comprising Volume 23 were published in 2010 as the refereed proceedings of that conference. The Ramanujan Journal was proud to bring out that volume honoring one of its Founding Editors. In view of the great interest that the mathematical community has in the influential work of Andrews, it was decided to republish Volume 23 of The Ramanujan Journal in this book form, so that the refereed proceedings are more readily available for those who do not subscribe to the journal but wish to possess this volume. As a fitting tribute to George Andrews, many speakers from the conference contributed research papers to this volume which deals with a broad range of areas that signify the research interests of George Andrews. In reproducing Volume 23 of The Ramanujan Journal in this book form, we have included two papers-one by Hei-Chi Chan and Shaun Cooper, and another by Ole Warnaar-which were intended for Volume 23 of The Ramanujan Journal, but appeared in other issues. The enormous productivity of George Andrews remains unabated in spite of the passage of time. His immensely fertile mind continues to pour forth seminal ideas year after year. He has two research papers in this volume. May his eternal youthfulness and his magnificent research output continue to inspire and influence researchers in the years ahead.

This book contains fundamental concepts on discrete mathematical structures in an easy to understand style so that the reader can grasp the contents and explanation easily. The concepts of discrete mathematical structures have application to computer science, engineering and information technology including in coding techniques, switching circuits, pointers and linked allocation, error corrections, as well as in data networking, Chemistry, Biology and many other scientific areas. The book is for undergraduate and graduate levels learners and educators associated with various courses and progammes in Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology. The book should serve as a text and reference guide to many undergraduate and graduate programmes offered by many institutions including colleges and universities. Readers will find solved examples and end of chapter exercises to enhance reader comprehension. Features Offers comprehensive coverage of basic ideas of Logic, Mathematical Induction, Graph Theory, Algebraic Structures and Lattices and Boolean Algebra Provides end of chapter solved examples and practice problems Delivers materials on valid arguments and rules of inference with illustrations Focuses on algebraic structures to enable the reader to work with discrete structures

First published in 1993, this thesis is concerned with the design of efficient algorithms for listing combinatorial structures. The research described here gives some answers to the following questions: which families of combinatorial structures have fast computer algorithms for listing their members? What general methods are useful for listing combinatorial structures? How can these be applied to those families which are of interest to theoretical computer scientists and combinatorialists? Amongst those families considered are unlabelled graphs, first order one properties, Hamiltonian graphs, graphs with cliques of specified order, and k-colourable graphs. Some related work is also included, which compares the listing problem with the difficulty of solving the existence problem, the construction problem, the random sampling problem, and the counting problem. In particular, the difficulty of evaluating Polya's cycle polynomial is demonstrated.

Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science: An Example-Based Introduction is intended for a first- or second-year discrete mathematics course for computer science majors. It covers many important mathematical topics essential for future computer science majors, such as algorithms, number representations, logic, set theory, Boolean algebra, functions, combinatorics, algorithmic complexity, graphs, and trees. Features Designed to be especially useful for courses at the community-college level Ideal as a first- or second-year textbook for computer science majors, or as a general introduction to discrete mathematics Written to be accessible to those with a limited mathematics background, and to aid with the transition to abstract thinking Filled with over 200 worked examples, boxed for easy reference, and over 200 practice problems with answers Contains approximately 40 simple algorithms to aid students in becoming proficient with algorithm control structures and pseudocode Includes an appendix on basic circuit design which provides a real-world motivational example for computer science majors by drawing on multiple topics covered in the book to design a circuit that adds two eight-digit binary numbers Jon Pierre Fortney graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996 with a BA in Mathematics and Actuarial Science and a BSE in Chemical Engineering. Prior to returning to graduate school, he worked as both an environmental engineer and as an actuarial analyst. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2008 with a PhD in Mathematics, specializing in Geometric Mechanics. Since 2012, he has worked at Zayed University in Dubai. This is his second mathematics textbook.

This is the first exposition of the theory of quasi-symmetric designs, that is, combinatorial designs with at most two block intersection numbers. The authors aim to bring out the interaction among designs, finite geometries, and strongly regular graphs. The book starts with basic, classical material on designs and strongly regular graphs and continues with a discussion of some important results on quasi-symmetric designs. The later chapters include a combinatorial construction of the Witt designs from the projective plane of order four, recent results dealing with a structural study of designs resulting from Cameron's classification theory on extensions of symmetric designs, and results on the classification problem of quasi-symmetric designs. The final chapter presents connections to coding theory.

Matroid theory was invented in the middle of the 1930s by two mathematicians independently, namely, Hassler Whitney in the USA and Takeo Nakasawa in Japan. Whitney became famous, but Nakasawa remained anonymous until two decades ago. He left only four papers to the mathematical community, all of them written in the middle of the 1930s. It was a bad time to have lived in a country that had become as eccentric as possible. Just as Nazism became more and more flamboyant in Europe in the 1930s, Japan became more and more esoteric and fanatical in the same time period. This book explains the little that is known about Nakasawa s personal life in a Japan that had, among other failures, lost control over its military. This book contains his four papers in German and their English translations as well as some extended commentary on the history of Japan during those years. The book also contains 14 photos of him or his family. Although the veil of mystery surrounding Nakasawa s life has only been partially lifted, the work presented in this book speaks eloquently of a tragic loss to the mathematical community."

Focuses on the latest research in Graph Theory Provides recent research findings that are occurring in this field Discusses the advanced developments and gives insights on an international and transnational level Identifies the gaps in the results Presents forthcoming international studies and researches, long with applications in Networking, Computer Science, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, etc.

The Rogers--Ramanujan identities are a pair of infinite series-infinite product identities that were first discovered in 1894. Over the past several decades these identities, and identities of similar type, have found applications in number theory, combinatorics, Lie algebra and vertex operator algebra theory, physics (especially statistical mechanics), and computer science (especially algorithmic proof theory). Presented in a coherant and clear way, this will be the first book entirely devoted to the Rogers-Ramanujan identities and will include related historical material that is unavailable elsewhere.

This book covers both theoretical and practical results for graph polynomials. Graph polynomials have been developed for measuring combinatorial graph invariants and for characterizing graphs. Various problems in pure and applied graph theory or discrete mathematics can be treated and solved efficiently by using graph polynomials. Graph polynomials have been proven useful areas such as discrete mathematics, engineering, information sciences, mathematical chemistry and related disciplines.

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) has recently attracted considerable attention from both research and industrial communities. Numerous papers have been published regarding solving the resource- allocation problems in NFV, from various perspectives, considering different constraints, and adopting a range of techniques. However, it is difficult to get a clear impression of how to understand and classify different kinds of resource allocation problems in NFV and how to design solutions to solve these problems efficiently. This book addresses these concerns by offering a comprehensive overview and explanation of different resource allocation problems in NFV and presenting efficient solutions to solve them. It covers resource allocation problems in NFV, including an introduction to NFV and QoS parameters modelling as well as related problem definition, formulation and the respective state-of-the-art algorithms. This book allows readers to gain a comprehensive understanding of and deep insights into the resource allocation problems in NFV. It does so by exploring (1) the working principle and architecture of NFV, (2) how to model the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters in NFV services, (3) definition, formulation and analysis of different kinds of resource allocation problems in various NFV scenarios, (4) solutions for solving the resource allocation problem in NFV, and (5) possible future work in the respective area.

Big Data of Complex Networks presents and explains the methods from the study of big data that can be used in analysing massive structural data sets, including both very large networks and sets of graphs. As well as applying statistical analysis techniques like sampling and bootstrapping in an interdisciplinary manner to produce novel techniques for analyzing massive amounts of data, this book also explores the possibilities offered by the special aspects such as computer memory in investigating large sets of complex networks. Intended for computer scientists, statisticians and mathematicians interested in the big data and networks, Big Data of Complex Networks is also a valuable tool for researchers in the fields of visualization, data analysis, computer vision and bioinformatics. Key features: Provides a complete discussion of both the hardware and software used to organize big data Describes a wide range of useful applications for managing big data and resultant data sets Maintains a firm focus on massive data and large networks Unveils innovative techniques to help readers handle big data Matthias Dehmer received his PhD in computer science from the Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany. Currently, he is Professor at UMIT - The Health and Life Sciences University, Austria, and the Universitat der Bundeswehr Munchen. His research interests are in graph theory, data science, complex networks, complexity, statistics and information theory. Frank Emmert-Streib received his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Bremen, and is currently Associate professor at Tampere University of Technology, Finland. His research interests are in the field of computational biology, machine learning and network medicine. Stefan Pickl holds a PhD in mathematics from the Darmstadt University of Technology, and is currently a Professor at Bundeswehr Universitat Munchen. His research interests are in operations research, systems biology, graph theory and discrete optimization. Andreas Holzinger received his PhD in cognitive science from Graz University and his habilitation (second PhD) in computer science from Graz University of Technology. He is head of the Holzinger Group HCI-KDD at the Medical University Graz and Visiting Professor for Machine Learning in Health Informatics Vienna University of Technology.

This book is based on a graduate course taught by the author at the University of Maryland, USA. The lecture notes have been revised and augmented by examples. The work falls into two strands. The first two chapters develop the elementary theory of Artin Braid groups both geometrically and via homotopy theory, and discusses the link between knot theory and the combinatorics of braid groups through Markov's Theorem. The final two chapters give a detailed investigation of polynomial covering maps, which may be viewed as a homomorphism of the funamental group of the base space into the Artin braid group on n strings. This book should be of interest to both topologists and algebraists working in braid theory.

This book is based on a graduate course taught by the author at the University of Maryland. The lecture notes have been revised and augmented by examples. The first two chapters develop the elementary theory of Artin Braid groups, both geometrically and via homotopy theory, and discuss the link between knot theory and the combinatorics of braid groups through Markou's Theorem. The final two chapters give a detailed investigation of polynomial covering maps, which may be viewed as a homomorphism of the fundamental group of the base space into the Artin Braid group on n strings.

Discrete Mathematics with Ducks, Second Edition is a gentle introduction for students who find the proofs and abstractions of mathematics challenging. At the same time, it provides stimulating material that instructors can use for more advanced students. The first edition was widely well received, with its whimsical writing style and numerous exercises and materials that engaged students at all levels. The new, expanded edition continues to facilitate effective and active learning. It is designed to help students learn about discrete mathematics through problem-based activities. These are created to inspire students to understand mathematics by actively practicing and doing, which helps students better retain what they've learned. As such, each chapter contains a mixture of discovery-based activities, projects, expository text, in-class exercises, and homework problems. The author's lively and friendly writing style is appealing to both instructors and students alike and encourages readers to learn. The book's light-hearted approach to the subject is a guiding principle and helps students learn mathematical abstraction. Features: The book's Try This! sections encourage students to construct components of discussed concepts, theorems, and proofs Provided sets of discovery problems and illustrative examples reinforce learning Bonus sections can be used by instructors as part of their regular curriculum, for projects, or for further study

This book bridges the gaps between logic, mathematics and computer science by delving into the theory of well-quasi orders, also known as wqos. This highly active branch of combinatorics is deeply rooted in and between many fields of mathematics and logic, including proof theory, commutative algebra, braid groups, graph theory, analytic combinatorics, theory of relations, reverse mathematics and subrecursive hierarchies. As a unifying concept for slick finiteness or termination proofs, wqos have been rediscovered in diverse contexts, and proven to be extremely useful in computer science. The book introduces readers to the many facets of, and recent developments in, wqos through chapters contributed by scholars from various fields. As such, it offers a valuable asset for logicians, mathematicians and computer scientists, as well as scholars and students.

This book represents a comprehensive overview of the present state of progress in three related areas of combinatorics. It comprises selected papers from a conference held at the University of Montreal. Topics covered in the articles include association schemes, extremal problems, combinatorial geometrics and matroids, and designs. All the papers contain new results and many are extensive surveys of particular areas of research. Particularly valuable will be Ivanov's paper on recent Soviet research in these areas. Consequently this volume will be of great attraction to all researchers in combinatorics and to research students requiring a rapid introduction to some of the open problems in the subject.

The aim of this book is to introduce a range of combinatorial methods for those who want to apply these methods in the solution of practical and theoretical problems. Various tricks and techniques are taught by means of exercises. Hints are given in a separate section and a third section contains all solutions in detail. A dictionary section gives definitions of the combinatorial notions occurring in the book.

"Combinatorial Problems and Exercises" was first published in 1979. This revised edition has the same basic structure but has been brought up to date with a series of exercises on random walks on graphs and their relations to eigenvalues, expansion properties and electrical resistance. In various chapters the author found lines of thought that have been extended in a natural and significant way in recent years. About 60 new exercises (more counting sub-problems) have been added and several solutions have been simplified.

Handbook of Robust Low-Rank and Sparse Matrix Decomposition: Applications in Image and Video Processing shows you how robust subspace learning and tracking by decomposition into low-rank and sparse matrices provide a suitable framework for computer vision applications. Incorporating both existing and new ideas, the book conveniently gives you one-stop access to a number of different decompositions, algorithms, implementations, and benchmarking techniques. Divided into five parts, the book begins with an overall introduction to robust principal component analysis (PCA) via decomposition into low-rank and sparse matrices. The second part addresses robust matrix factorization/completion problems while the third part focuses on robust online subspace estimation, learning, and tracking. Covering applications in image and video processing, the fourth part discusses image analysis, image denoising, motion saliency detection, video coding, key frame extraction, and hyperspectral video processing. The final part presents resources and applications in background/foreground separation for video surveillance. With contributions from leading teams around the world, this handbook provides a complete overview of the concepts, theories, algorithms, and applications related to robust low-rank and sparse matrix decompositions. It is designed for researchers, developers, and graduate students in computer vision, image and video processing, real-time architecture, machine learning, and data mining.

In Mathematical Foundations of Public Key Cryptography, the authors integrate the results of more than 20 years of research and teaching experience to help students bridge the gap between math theory and crypto practice. The book provides a theoretical structure of fundamental number theory and algebra knowledge supporting public-key cryptography. Rather than simply combining number theory and modern algebra, this textbook features the interdisciplinary characteristics of cryptography-revealing the integrations of mathematical theories and public-key cryptographic applications. Incorporating the complexity theory of algorithms throughout, it introduces the basic number theoretic and algebraic algorithms and their complexities to provide a preliminary understanding of the applications of mathematical theories in cryptographic algorithms. Supplying a seamless integration of cryptography and mathematics, the book includes coverage of elementary number theory; algebraic structure and attributes of group, ring, and field; cryptography-related computing complexity and basic algorithms, as well as lattice and fundamental methods of lattice cryptanalysis. The text consists of 11 chapters. Basic theory and tools of elementary number theory, such as congruences, primitive roots, residue classes, and continued fractions, are covered in Chapters 1-6. The basic concepts of abstract algebra are introduced in Chapters 7-9, where three basic algebraic structures of groups, rings, and fields and their properties are explained. Chapter 10 is about computational complexities of several related mathematical algorithms, and hard problems such as integer factorization and discrete logarithm. Chapter 11 presents the basics of lattice theory and the lattice basis reduction algorithm-the LLL algorithm and its application in the cryptanalysis of the RSA algorithm. Containing a number of exercises on key algorithms, the book is suitable for use as a textbook for undergraduate students and first-year graduate students in information security programs. It is also an ideal reference book for cryptography professionals looking to master public-key cryptography.

This book includes 58 selected articles that highlight the major contributions of Professor Radha Charan Gupta-a doyen of history of mathematics-written on a variety of important topics pertaining to mathematics and astronomy in India. It is divided into ten parts. Part I presents three articles offering an overview of Professor Gupta's oeuvre. The four articles in Part II convey the importance of studies in the history of mathematics. Parts III-VII constituting 33 articles, feature a number of articles on a variety of topics, such as geometry, trigonometry, algebra, combinatorics and spherical trigonometry, which not only reveal the breadth and depth of Professor Gupta's work, but also highlight his deep commitment to the promotion of studies in the history of mathematics. The ten articles of part VIII, present interesting bibliographical sketches of a few veteran historians of mathematics and astronomy in India. Part IX examines the dissemination of mathematical knowledge across different civilisations. The last part presents an up-to-date bibliography of Gupta's work. It also includes a tribute to him in Sanskrit composed in eight verses.

From specialists in the field, you will learn about interesting connections and recent developments in the field of graph theory by looking in particular at Cartesian products-arguably the most important of the four standard graph products. Many new results in this area appear for the first time in print in this book. Written in an accessible way, this book can be used for personal study in advanced applications of graph theory or for an advanced graph theory course.

Providing a self-contained resource for upper undergraduate courses in combinatorics, this text emphasizes computation, problem solving, and proof technique. In particular, the book places special emphasis the Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion and the Multiplication Principle. To this end, exercise sets are included at the end of every section, ranging from simple computations (evaluate a formula for a given set of values) to more advanced proofs. The exercises are designed to test students' understanding of new material, while reinforcing a working mastery of the key concepts previously developed in the book. Intuitive descriptions for many abstract techniques are included. Students often struggle with certain topics, such as generating functions, and this intuitive approach to the problem is helpful in their understanding. When possible, the book introduces concepts using combinatorial methods (as opposed to induction or algebra) to prove identities. Students are also asked to prove identities using combinatorial methods as part of their exercises. These methods have several advantages over induction or algebra.