Interest in combinatorial techniques has been greatly enhanced by the applications they may offer in connection with computer technology. The 38 papers in this volume survey the state of the art and report on recent results in Combinatorial Geometries and their applications.Contributors: V. Abatangelo, L. Beneteau, W. Benz, A. Beutelspacher, A. Bichara, M. Biliotti, P. Biondi, F. Bonetti, R. Capodaglio di Cocco, P.V. Ceccherini, L. Cerlienco, N. Civolani, M. de Soete, M. Deza, F. Eugeni, G. Faina, P. Filip, S. Fiorini, J.C. Fisher, M. Gionfriddo, W. Heise, A. Herzer, M. Hille, J.W.P. Hirschfield, T. Ihringer, G. Korchmaros, F. Kramer, H. Kramer, P. Lancellotti, B. Larato, D. Lenzi, A. Lizzio, G. Lo Faro, N.A. Malara, M.C. Marino, N. Melone, G. Menichetti, K. Metsch, S. Milici, G. Nicoletti, C. Pellegrino, G. Pica, F. Piras, T. Pisanski, G.-C. Rota, A. Sappa, D. Senato, G. Tallini, J.A. Thas, N. Venanzangeli, A.M. Venezia, A.C.S. Ventre, H. Wefelscheid, B.J. Wilson, N. Zagaglia Salvi, H. Zeitler.

Recent developments in all aspects of combinatorial and incidence geometry are covered in this volume, including their links with the foundations of geometry, graph theory and algebraic structures, and the applications to coding theory and computer science.Topics covered include Galois geometries, blocking sets, affine and projective planes, incidence structures and their automorphism groups. Matroids, graph theory and designs are also treated, along with weak algebraic structures such as near-rings, near-fields, quasi-groups, loops, hypergroups etc., and permutation sets and groups.The vitality of combinatorics today lies in its important interactions with computer science. The problems which arise are of a varied nature and suitable techniques to deal with them have to be devised for each situation; one of the special features of combinatorics is the often sporadic nature of solutions, stemming from its links with number theory. The branches of combinatorics are many and various, and all of them are represented in the 56 papers in this volume.

This book is a gentle introduction to the enumerative part of combinatorics suitable for study at the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level. In addition to covering all the standard techniques for counting combinatorial objects, the text contains material from the research literature which has never before appeared in print, such as the use of quotient posets to study the Möbius function and characteristic polynomial of a partially ordered set, or the connection between quasisymmetric functions and pattern avoidance. The book assumes minimal background, and a first course in abstract algebra should suffice. The exposition is very reader friendly: keeping a moderate pace, using lots of examples, emphasizing recurring themes, and frankly expressing the delight the author takes in mathematics in general and combinatorics in particular.

Association schemes are of interest to both mathematicians and statisticians and this book was written with both audiences in mind. For statisticians, it shows how to construct designs for experiments in blocks, how to compare such designs, and how to analyse data from them. The reader is only assumed to know very basic abstract algebra. For pure mathematicians, it tells why association schemes are important and develops the theory to the level of advanced research. This book arose from a course successfully taught by the author and as such the material is thoroughly class-tested. There are a great number of examples and exercises that will increase the book's appeal to both graduate students and their instructors. It is ideal for those coming either from pure mathematics or statistics backgrounds who wish to develop their understanding of association schemes.

Combinatorics and Number Theory of Counting Sequences is an introduction to the theory of finite set partitions and to the enumeration of cycle decompositions of permutations. The presentation prioritizes elementary enumerative proofs. Therefore, parts of the book are designed so that even those high school students and teachers who are interested in combinatorics can have the benefit of them. Still, the book collects vast, up-to-date information for many counting sequences (especially, related to set partitions and permutations), so it is a must-have piece for those mathematicians who do research on enumerative combinatorics. In addition, the book contains number theoretical results on counting sequences of set partitions and permutations, so number theorists who would like to see nice applications of their area of interest in combinatorics will enjoy the book, too. Features The Outlook sections at the end of each chapter guide the reader towards topics not covered in the book, and many of the Outlook items point towards new research problems. An extensive bibliography and tables at the end make the book usable as a standard reference. Citations to results which were scattered in the literature now become easy, because huge parts of the book (especially in parts II and III) appear in book form for the first time.

Combinatorics is a subject of increasing importance, owing to its links with computer science, statistics and algebra. This is a textbook aimed at second-year undergraduates to beginning graduates. It stresses common techniques (such as generating functions and recursive construction) which underlie the great variety of subject matter and also stresses the fact that a constructive or algorithmic proof is more valuable than an existence proof. The book is divided into two parts, the second at a higher level and with a wider range than the first. Historical notes are included which give a wider perspective on the subject. More advanced topics are given as projects and there are a number of exercises, some with solutions given.

Combinatorics is a subject of increasing importance because of its links with computer science, statistics, and algebra. This textbook stresses common techniques (such as generating functions and recursive construction) that underlie the great variety of subject matter, and the fact that a constructive or algorithmic proof is more valuable than an existence proof. The author emphasizes techniques as well as topics and includes many algorithms described in simple terms. The text should provide essential background for students in all parts of discrete mathematics.

New mathematical research in arithmetic dynamics In The Arithmetic of Polynomial Dynamical Pairs, Charles Favre and Thomas Gauthier present new mathematical research in the field of arithmetic dynamics. Specifically, the authors study one-dimensional algebraic families of pairs given by a polynomial with a marked point. Combining tools from arithmetic geometry and holomorphic dynamics, they prove an “unlikely intersection” statement for such pairs, thereby demonstrating strong rigidity features for them. They further describe one-dimensional families in the moduli space of polynomials containing infinitely many postcritically finite parameters, proving the dynamical André-Oort conjecture for curves in this context, originally stated by Baker and DeMarco. This is a reader-friendly invitation to a new and exciting research area that brings together sophisticated tools from many branches of mathematics.

A celebrated mathematician traces the history of math through the lives and work of twenty-five pioneering mathematicians In Significant Figures, acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart explores the work of 25 of history's most important mathematicians, showing how they developed on each other's work and built the mathematics we use today. Through these short biographies, we get acquainted with the history of mathematics from Archimedes to William Thurston, and learn about those too often left out of the cannon, such as Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, the creator of algebra; Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer; and Emmy Noether, whose research on symmetry paved the way for modern physics. Tracing the evolution of mathematics over the course of two millennia, Significant Figures will educate and delight aspiring mathematicians and experts alike.

This book provides an accessible and self-contained introduction to the theory of algebraic curves over a finite field, a subject that has been of fundamental importance to mathematics for many years and that has essential applications in areas such as finite geometry, number theory, error-correcting codes, and cryptology. Unlike other books, this one emphasizes the algebraic geometry rather than the function field approach to algebraic curves. The authors begin by developing the general theory of curves over any field, highlighting peculiarities occurring for positive characteristic and requiring of the reader only basic knowledge of algebra and geometry. The special properties that a curve over a finite field can have are then discussed. The geometrical theory of linear series is used to find estimates for the number of rational points on a curve, following the theory of Stöhr and Voloch. The approach of Hasse and Weil via zeta functions is explained, and then attention turns to more advanced results: a state-of-the-art introduction to maximal curves over finite fields is provided; a comprehensive account is given of the automorphism group of a curve; and some applications to coding theory and finite geometry are described. The book includes many examples and exercises. It is an indispensable resource for researchers and the ideal textbook for graduate students.