UNSW Pure Maths Seminar: Britz -- Why it is useful to study linear algebra combinatorially

            THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

              DEPARTMENT OF PURE MATHEMATICS

_________________DEPARTMENTAL SEMINAR__________________


Speaker: Dr. Thomas Britz (UNSW)

Title:   Why it is useful to study linear algebra
          combinatorially

Date:    Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Time:    12:00 noon
Venue:   RC-3084, The Red Centre, UNSW

Abstract:

Almost a century ago, the study of the Four Colour
Problem drove mathematicians to study linear algebra
in terms of combinatorial properties. Matrices and
projective spaces were thus replaced by more
abstract objects, known as matroids, and it turned
out that these matroids not only generalised parts
of linear algebra but also large parts of graph
theory, matching theory, and many other areas.

In this talk, I will present several ways in which
classical results from coding theory may be
generalized with respect to matroids. To illustrate
why these generalizations are interesting, I will
show applications to designs, graphs, some big
polynomials, and an interesting dual identity.

The talk is intended for a general audience.


Enquiries to Jonathan Kress, 9385 7078, j.kress@unsw.edu.au