This friendly introduction helps undergraduate students understand and appreciate matroid theory and its connections to geometry.

Matroid theory is a vibrant area of research that provides a unified way to understand graph theory, linear algebra and combinatorics via finite geometry. This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to the field which will appeal to undergraduate students and to any mathematician interested in the geometric approach to matroids. Written in a friendly, fun-to-read style and developed from the authors' own undergraduate courses, the book is ideal for students. Beginning with a basic introduction to matroids, the book quickly familiarizes the reader with the breadth of the subject, and specific examples are used to illustrate the theory and to help students see matroids as more than just generalizations of graphs. Over 300 exercises are included, with many hints and solutions so students can test their understanding of the materials covered. The authors have also included several projects and open-ended research problems for independent study.

This volume, the third in a sequence that began with The Theory of Matroids and Combinatorial Geometries, concentrates on the applications of matroid theory to a variety of topics from engineering (rigidity and scene analysis), combinatorics (graphs, lattices, codes and designs), topology and operations research (the greedy algorithm).

The theory of matroids is unique in the extent to which it connects such disparate branches of combinatorial theory and algebra as graph theory, lattice theory, design theory, combinatorial optimization, linear algebra, group theory, ring theory and field theory. Furthermore, matroid theory is alone among mathematical theories because of the number and variety of its equivalent axiom systems. Indeed, matroids are amazingly versatile and the approaches to the subject are varied and numerous. This book is a primer in the basic axioms and constructions of matroids. The contributions by various leaders in the field include chapters on axiom systems, lattices, basis exchange properties, orthogonality, graphs and networks, constructions, maps, semi-modular functions and an appendix on cryptomorphisms. The authors have concentrated on giving a lucid exposition of the individual topics; explanations of theorems are preferred to complete proofs and original work is thoroughly referenced. In addition, exercises are included for each topic.

The theory of matroids connects disparate branches of combinatorial theory and algebra such as graph and lattice theory, combinatorial optimization, and linear algebra. This text describes standard examples and investigation results, and it uses elementary proofs to develop basic matroid properties before advancing to a more sophisticated treatment. 1976 edition.

Topics in Matroid Theory provides a brief introduction to matroid theory with an emphasis on algorithmic consequences.Matroid theory is at the heart of combinatorial optimization and has attracted various pioneers such as Edmonds, Tutte, Cunningham and Lawler among others. Matroid theory encompasses matrices, graphs and other combinatorial entities under a common, solid algebraic framework, thereby providing the analytical tools to solve related difficult algorithmic problems. The monograph contains a rigorous axiomatic definition of matroids along with other necessary concepts such as duality, minors, connectivity and representability as demonstrated in matrices, graphs and transversals. The author also presents a deep decomposition result in matroid theory that provides a structural characterization of graphic matroids, and show how this can be extended to signed-graphic matroids, as well as the immediate algorithmic consequences.

Matroids appear in diverse areas of mathematics, from combinatorics to algebraic topology and geometry, and "Coxeter Matroids" provides an intuitive and interdisciplinary treatment of their theory. In this text, matroids are examined in terms of symmetric and finite reflection groups; also, symplectic matroids and the more general coxeter matroids are carefully developed. The Gelfand-Serganova theorem, which allows for the geometric interpretation of matroids as convex polytopes with certain symmetry properties, is presented, and in the final chapter, matroid representations and combinatorial flag varieties are discussed. With its excellent bibliography and index and ample references to current research, this work will be useful for graduate students and research mathematicians.

First comprehensive, accessible account; second edition has expanded bibliography and a new appendix surveying recent research.

Divisors and Sandpiles provides an introduction to the combinatorial theory of chip-firing on finite graphs. Part 1 motivates the study of the discrete Laplacian by introducing the dollar game. The resulting theory of divisors on graphs runs in close parallel to the geometric theory of divisors on Riemann surfaces, and Part 1 culminates in a full exposition of the graph-theoretic Riemann-Roch theorem due to M. Baker and S. Norine. The text leverages the reader's understanding of the discrete story to provide a brief overview of the classical theory of Riemann surfaces. Part 2 focuses on sandpiles, which are toy models of physical systems with dynamics controlled by the discrete Laplacian of the underlying graph. The text provides a careful introduction to the sandpile group and the abelian sandpile model, leading ultimately to L. Levine's threshold density theorem for the fixed-energy sandpile Markov chain. In a precise sense, the theory of sandpiles is dual to the theory of divisors, and there are many beautiful connections between the first two parts of the book. Part 3 addresses various topics connecting the theory of chip-firing to other areas of mathematics, including the matrix-tree theorem, harmonic morphisms, parking functions, M-matrices, matroids, the Tutte polynomial, and simplicial homology. The text is suitable for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students.

Tropical geometry is a combinatorial shadow of algebraic geometry, offering new polyhedral tools to compute invariants of algebraic varieties. It is based on tropical algebra, where the sum of two numbers is their minimum and the product is their sum. This turns polynomials into piecewise-linear functions, and their zero sets into polyhedral complexes. These tropical varieties retain a surprising amount of information about their classical counterparts. Tropical geometry is a young subject that has undergone a rapid development since the beginning of the 21st century. While establishing itself as an area in its own right, deep connections have been made to many branches of pure and applied mathematics. This book offers a self-contained introduction to tropical geometry, suitable as a course text for beginning graduate students. Proofs are provided for the main results, such as the Fundamental Theorem and the Structure Theorem. Numerous examples and explicit computations illustrate the main concepts. Each of the six chapters concludes with problems that will help the readers to practice their tropical skills, and to gain access to the research literature. This wonderful book will appeal to students and researchers of all stripes: it begins at an undergraduate level and ends with deep connections to toric varieties, compactifications, and degenerations. In between, the authors provide the first complete proofs in book form of many fundamental results in the subject. The pages are sprinkled with illuminating examples, applications, and exercises, and the writing is lucid and meticulous throughout. It is that rare kind of book which will be used equally as an introductory text by students and as a reference for experts. —Matt Baker, Georgia Institute of Technology Tropical geometry is an exciting new field, which requires tools from various parts of mathematics and has connections with many areas. A short definition is given by Maclagan and Sturmfels: “Tropical geometry is a marriage between algebraic and polyhedral geometry”. This wonderful book is a pleasant and rewarding journey through different landscapes, inviting the readers from a day at a beach to the hills of modern algebraic geometry. The authors present building blocks, examples and exercises as well as recent results in tropical geometry, with ingredients from algebra, combinatorics, symbolic computation, polyhedral geometry and algebraic geometry. The volume will appeal both to beginning graduate students willing to enter the field and to researchers, including experts. —Alicia Dickenstein, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina