Colloquium Lectures

Time: 9h30, Friday, December 13, 2019
Location: Grand Hall, Building A6, Institute of Mathematics, 18B Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi
Abstract: According to Gelfand, "at the bottom of most deep mathematical questions there is a combinatorial problem." Combinatorics, once viewed as "the slums of topology," has come a long way during the past century. It has its own powerful techniques and close ties to algebra, topology, information theory, and several other disciplines. Nevertheless, many basic combinatorial problems, including ones needed for applications, are wide open, partially due to a phenomenon called "combinatorial explosion" or the "curse of dimension." In this talk, we will illustrate how to solve some notoriously difficult open problems by restricting our attention to certain combinatorial structures arising in geometric, algebraic, and practical applications. The talk will be entirely self-contained, and no previous knowledge of the subject will be assumed.