Matching problems with preferences are all around us: they arise when agents seek to be allocated to one another on the basis of ranked preferences over potential outcomes. Efficient algorithms are needed for producing matchings that optimise the satisfaction of the agents according to their preference lists. In recent years there has been a sharp increase in the study of algorithmic aspects of matching problems with preferences, partly reflecting the growing number of applications of these problems worldwide. The importance of the research area was recognised in 2012 through the award of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences to Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley. This book describes the most important results in this area, providing a timely update to The Stable Marriage Problem: Structure and Algorithms (D Gusfield and R W Irving, MIT Press, 1989) in connection with stable matching problems, whilst also broadening the scope to include matching problems with preferences under a range of alternative optimality criteria.

This volume contains nine survey articles which provide expanded accounts of plenary seminars given at the British Combinatorial Conference at the University of Strathclyde in July 2017. This biennial conference is a well-established international event attracting speakers from around the world. Written by internationally recognised experts in the field, these articles represent a timely snapshot of the state of the art in the different areas of combinatorics. Topics covered include the robustness of graph properties, the spt-function of Andrews, switching techniques for edge decompositions of graphs, monotone cellular automata, and applications of relative entropy in additive combinatorics. The book will be useful to researchers and advanced graduate students, primarily in mathematics but also in computer science and statistics.