Coordinator: Dr Alan Pryde
4 points - Two 1-hour lectures per week - Second semester - Clayton - Prerequisites: Any 12-point first-year mathematics sequence - Prohibitions: GAS3614, MAP2032, MAT3057
Objectives On the completion of this subject, students will understand counting techniques for combinatorial problems; develop skills for calculating using recurrence relations; develop flow networks and achieve an understanding of the max flow/min cut theorem; understand the concepts of binary codes, in particular linear and cyclic codes.
Synopsis Permutations and combinations. Recurrence relations. Networks: Menger's theorem and the max flow/min cut theorem, with applications to optimisation in flow situations, such as traffic and distribution networks. Coding theory: finite fields.
Assessment Examination (2 hours): 80% - Tests: 20%
Prescribed texts
Dossey J A and others Discrete mathematics Harper Collins, 1993
Recommended texts
Roberts F S Applied combinatorics Prentice-Hall, 1984
Back to the 1999 Science Handbook