Math 462: Combinatorial Theory

Professor Monty (William) McGovern 
Winter 2009


Instructor:
Monty (or William) McGovern
Office: Padelford C-450
Phone: 206-543-1149
Email: mcgovern@math.washington.edu
Office Hours: MW 2:30, or by appointment, Padelford C-450
Lectures:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 9:30-10:20 a.m., Smith Hall 305
Required Text:

Introductory Combinatorics, by Brualdi, (4th ed., Prentice Hall, 2004).

Prerequisites:
Math 461 or the equivalent. 
Grading:
Your grade will be based on weekly homework, two midterms, and a final exam, each accounting for 1/3 of the final grade. The midterms will be given on January 30 and February 27; the final exam will be given on Wednesday, March 18, at 8:30 a.m., and will be comprehensive. If you cannot complete a homework assignment on time, you can always turn it in by 4:00 on the day it is due to the grader's (Steve Klee's) mailbox. PLEASE turn in WHATEVER YOU CAN rather than nothing. I encourage you to work on homework in groups, though each assignment must be written up individually. In the midterms and final you may use two letter-sized pages (one sheet front and back of notes in your own handwriting).
Incompletes and Drops:
The grade of Incomplete will be given ONLY if a student has been doing satisfactory work until the end of the quarter and then misses the final exam for a documented illness, religious reason, or family emergency.
What to Expect:
I will continue where I left off in 461, covering Chapters 10 through 13 (possibly with some other topics): blocks and designs, Latin squares, general directed and undirected graphs, a little bit on networks, and graph coloring.

             Homework

Due:
Problems:
Jan 9
correct your final exam from last quarter: start Chapter 10
Jan 16
10.5.10,11,20,28,36 [correction 13 blocks apiece from B1,B2, not 12]: finish Chapter 10
Jan 23
10.5.48,54; 11.8.2,5,10: read 11.1,2
Jan 30
study problems, first midterm: 10.5.46,47; 11.8.4,41,44; read 11.3
Feb 6
11.8.28,29,39,44,48: read 11.4,5
Feb 13
11.8.40,42,55; 12.3.5,9: read 11.7[omit 11.6], start Chapter 12
Feb 20
12.3.24,25,29; 13.6.4,5: finish Chapter 12 [omit the trading problem], start Chapter 13
Feb 27
study problems, second midterm: 12.3.10,11; 13.6.6,8,16; finish 13.2
Mar 6
13.6.19,20,21,28,29: read 13.3,4
Mar 13
study problems, final: 10.5.29,44; 11.8.41; 13.6.45,50; finish Chapter 13


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