392172 Elements of Combinatorics for Computer Scientists (V+Ü) (WiSe 2005/2006)

MOTIVATION:

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"Despite its great potential and surprising applications,
the fascinating field of combinatorics is still not
well known for students and researcher in Computer Science"
The aim of this course will be to give a first impression
about the power of combinatorial techniques, the
problems dealt in such a field and how its methods can
be exploited with surprising effectiveness in Computer
Science.
Besides the more classical tools of pigeonhole principle,
inclusion-exclusion principles, double-counting arguments,
Ramsey arguments, some recent techniques, like the
probabilistic method will be touched upon, which
have shown striking applications in the theory of
computing.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE:

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The course will be based on a weekly
2-hour lecture. Possibly and according to
the development of the teaching, an additional
1-hour exercise-session will be planned.

Requirements for participation, required level

Level: Graduate Students or Advanced Students of Hauptstudium
Language: English

PREREQUISITES:

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No special technical prerequisites in any field of
discrete mathematics or theory of coumputing are necessary.
A good mathematical background at undergraduate level should suffice
to "swallow and digest" the proofs... and enjoy the meal!
It is quite well known that, despite their power, most problems
and results in combinatorics are easy to formulate and discuss.
It is this aspect of accessibility that makes this field
particularly appealing for most of the people that enter it.