The course is for students in the second year and higher; it is not an introductory graduate course. The absolute minimum requirement is a good understanding of abstraction and a solid modern algebra background (as from a graduate course), and the more graduate math you know, the better (that's the famous "mathematical maturity"). Previous knowledge of graph theory is not essential! If you aren't sure whether you might be interested or ready for this class, please see me.
We will use as textbook Matching Theory by László Lovász and Michael D. Plummer (republished by the AMS; note the member price). The topics of the course are listed in the syllabus, which is tentative and will be adjusted during the course.
I expect you, the students, to study the material and to work on as many of the exercises as you can. I will meet separately with each student frequently (every week or two) to discuss your progress and any questions you or I may have. I will frequently collect written work: see the homework assignments below. I will accept a second version of any problem, if you want to rewrite it for a better grade (or any other reason), but only within a reasonable time (let's say, about two weeks from when I returned the first version).
We meet MWF 2:20 - 3:20 in LN-2205. There will be student presentations during extra meetings.
Special class time: Wed., Nov. 24, noon in LN-2205.
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