Description:
This 2-unit course is offered under the header Hot Topics in Mathematics.
Our topic is that
of the concurrent MSRI program with the
same title. We offer a lightning introduction to
research themes
in Geometric and Topological Combinatorics.
This will enable students to participate in MSRI activities.
Format: The course consists of 13 lectures.
Each lectures introduce the audience to a different book.
Our 13 books are listed below, and they
are
on reserve at the math library.
I will lecture on selected topics
from that book.
Participants are encouraged
to form study groups, work out problems, and collaborate.
Book Groups: The following six groups
(leaders parenthesized) will start
during the first week of September:
IDEALS (Maddie Weinstein),
MATROIDS (Charles Wang),
POLYTOPES (Anna Seigal),
DISCRIMINANTS
(Chris Eur),
TRIANGULATIONS (Nic Brody), and
ORIENTED MATROIDS (Melissa Sherman-Bennett).
Grading:
The passing grade (S) will be awarded for participation and nicely
written book reports.
Contents and format are flexible:
you set your own standards.
Submission deadline is November 27.
Wrap-up Meeting: We will meet on
Monday, November 27.
Book groups will report on their findings.
DAILY SCHEDULE:
August 24: Lectures on Geometric Combinatorics (by Rekha Thomas)
August 29: A Course in Topological Combinatorics (by Mark De Longueville)
August 31, 8-9: Lectures on Polytopes (by Günter Ziegler)
September 5, 8-9: Computing the Continuous Discretely (by Matthias Beck, Sinai Robins)
September 7: No Class - Please attend Introductory Workshop at MSRI
September 12: Matroid Theory (by James Oxley)
September 14: Oriented Matroids (by A Björner, M Las Vergnas, B Sturmfels, N White, G Ziegler)
September 19: Combinatorics and Commutative Algebra (by Richard Stanley)
September 21: Arrangements of Hyperplanes (by Peter Orlik, Hiroaki Terao)
September 26: Triangulations (by Jesus De Loera, Jörg Rambau, Francisco Santos)
September 28: Gröbner Bases and Convex Polytopes (by Bernd Sturmfels)
September 28: (4-5pm) Please attend my Colloquium Lecture on Tensors
October 3: Essentials of Tropical Combinatorics (by Michael Joswig)
October 5: Discriminants, Resultants and Multidimensional Determinants
(by I Gel'fand, M Kapranov, A Zelevinsky)
October 5: (4-5pm) Please attend Caroline Klivans' Colloquium Lecture
October 10: No Class - Please attend Workshop at MSRI
October 12: No Class - Please attend Workshop at MSRI
November 27 (Monday): 2-4pm, 740 Evans: Wrap-up meeting