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Written for students taking a second or third year undergraduate course in mathematics or computer science, this book is the ideal companion to a course in enumeration. Enumeration is a branch of combinatorics where the fundamental subject matter is numerous methods of pattern formation and counting. An Introduction to Enumeration provides a comprehensive and practical introduction to this subject giving a clear account of fundamental results and a thorough grounding in the use of powerful techniques and tools. Two major themes run in parallel through the book,  generating functions and group theory. The former theme takes enumerative sequences and then uses analytic tools to discover how they are made up. Group theory provides a concise introduction to groups and illustrates how the theory can be used  to count the number of symmetries a particular object has. These enrich and extend basic group ideas and techniques. The authors present their material through examples that are carefully chosen to establish key results in a natural setting. The aim is to progressively build fundamental theorems and techniques. This development is interspersed with exercises that consolidate ideas and build confidence. Some exercises are linked to particular sections while others range across a complete chapter. Throughout, there is an attempt to present key enumerative ideas in a graphic way, using diagrams to make them immediately accessible. The development assumes some basic group theory, a familiarity with analytic functions and their power series expansion along with  some basic linear algebra.

Group theory --- Discrete mathematics --- discrete wiskunde --- wiskunde

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This volume is intended to carry on the program, initiated in Topology, Geometry, and Gauge Fields: Foundations (Springer, 2010), of exploring the interrelations between particle physics and topology that arise from their shared notion of a gauge field. The text begins with a synopsis of the geometrical background  assumed of the reader (manifolds, Lie groups, bundles, connections, etc.). There follows a lengthy, and somewhat informal discussion of a number of the most basic of the classical gauge theories arising in physics, including classical electromagnetic theory and Dirac monopoles, the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations and SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory. The real purpose here is to witness such things as spacetime manifolds, spinor structures, de Rham cohomology, and Chern classes arise of their own accord in meaningful physics. All of these are then developed rigorously in the remaining chapters. With the precise definitions in hand, one can, for example, fully identify magnetic charge and instanton number with the Chern numbers of the bundles on which the charge and instanton live, and uncover the obstruction to the existence of a spinor structure in the form of the second Stiefel-Whitney class.  This second edition of the book includes, in an Appendix, a much expanded sketch of Seiberg-Witten gauge theory, including a brief discussion of its origins in physics and its implications for topology.  To provide the reader with the opportunity to pause en route and join in the fun, there are 228 exercises, each an integral part of the development and each located at precisely the point at which it can be solved with optimal benefit. Reviews of first edition: Naber's goal is not to teach a sterile course on geometry and topology, but rather to enable us to see the subject in action, through gauge theory.  (SIAM Review)  The presentation ¦ is enriched by detailed discussions about the physical interpretations of connections, their curvatures and characteristic classes. I particularly enjoyed Chapter 2 where many fundamental physical examples are discussed at great length in a reader friendly fashion.  No detail is left to the reader's imagination or interpretation.  I am not aware of another source where these very important examples and ideas are presented at a level accessible to beginners.  (Mathematical Reviews)                                                                                             

Geometry --- Discrete mathematics --- Mathematical physics --- theoretische fysica --- discrete wiskunde --- geometrie

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Combinatorics and Reasoning: Representing, Justifying and Building Isomorphisms is based on the accomplishments of a cohort group of learners from first grade through high school and beyond, concentrating on their work on a set of combinatorics tasks. By studying these students, the Editors gain insight into the foundations of proof building, the tools and environments necessary to make connections, activities to extend and generalize combinatoric learning, and even explore implications of this learning on the undergraduate level. This volume underscores the power of attending to basic ideas in building arguments; it shows the importance of providing opportunities for the co-construction of knowledge by groups of learners; and it demonstrates the value of careful construction of appropriate tasks. Moreover, it documents how reasoning that takes the form of proof evolves with young children and discusses the conditions for supporting student reasoning.

Didactics of mathematics --- Discrete mathematics --- discrete wiskunde --- didactiek --- wiskunde

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Mathematical logic --- Algebra --- Discrete mathematics --- algebra --- discrete wiskunde --- wiskunde

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Mathematical logic --- Discrete mathematics --- Computer science --- discrete wiskunde --- informatica --- wiskunde