Math 583G
Advanced methods in discrete mathematics

László Lovász and Balazs Szegedy

Spring 2005, Tuesday-Thursday 2:30-3:50

First class meeting will be Thursday, March 31.


Eigenvalues of graphs and their graph-theoretic significance. Random walks on graphs and basic parameters: hitting times, cover time, mixing times. Connection with the eigenvalue gap. Geometric representations: circle representation, orthogonal representation, Colin de Verdiere number, spectral constructions of geometric representations.

Prerequisites. The course uses only elementary linear algebra and probability, and some basic knowledge in graph theory.