Math 511: Introduction to Combinatorics
Spring, 2019

Instructor: Thomas Zaslavsky
Office: WH 216
Office hours: M, W, F, hours 3:30–5:00

Class meets M, W, F from 2:20–3:20 in WH 309

Course description

Combinatorics means studying arrangements of objects, usually finitely many of them. It includes existence, structure, counting, optimization, and much else. It is a very diverse subject, and it can use techniques from any other area of math. This class will demonstrate the diversity of combinatorics. There will be little overlap with the recent 511 classes, which tended towards an algebraic approach.

Textbook

Van Lint and Wilson, A Course in Combinatorics, 2nd edition.

The book is more purely combinatorial—and more wide-ranging—than the books by Stanley or Kung-Rota-Yan used recently for 511. It is also quite concise; I hope to cover about half of it, more (if all goes well) or less.

See the Table of Contents = syllabus for a list of the chapters we may cover—subject to change without notice as the course develops.

See the presentations page for a regularly updated list of student presentation topics.

See the assignments page for an irregularly updated list of problems to solve, write up, and hand in.

Syllabus | Notes | Presentations | Assignments
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