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Bijective Proof
In combinatorics, bijective proof is a proof technique for proving that two sets have equally many elements, or that the sets in two combinatorial classes have equal size, by finding a bijective function that maps one set one-to-one onto the other. This technique can be useful as a way of finding a formula for the number of elements of certain sets, by corresponding them with other sets that are easier to count. Additionally, the nature of the bijection itself often provides powerful insights into each or both of the sets. Basic examples Proving the symmetry of the binomial coefficients The symmetry of the binomial coefficients states that : = . This means that there are exactly as many combinations of things in a set of size as there are combinations of things in a set of size . A bijective proof The key idea of the proof may be understood from a simple example: selecting children to be rewarded with ice cream cones, out of a group of children, has exactly th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combinatorics
Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many applications ranging from logic to statistical physics and from evolutionary biology to computer science. Combinatorics is well known for the breadth of the problems it tackles. Combinatorial problems arise in many areas of pure mathematics, notably in algebra, probability theory, topology, and geometry, as well as in its many application areas. Many combinatorial questions have historically been considered in isolation, giving an ''ad hoc'' solution to a problem arising in some mathematical context. In the later twentieth century, however, powerful and general theoretical methods were developed, making combinatorics into an independent branch of mathematics in its own right. One of the oldest and most accessible parts of combinatorics is gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symmetric Group
In abstract algebra, the symmetric group defined over any set is the group whose elements are all the bijections from the set to itself, and whose group operation is the composition of functions. In particular, the finite symmetric group \mathrm_n defined over a finite set of n symbols consists of the permutations that can be performed on the n symbols. Since there are n! (n factorial) such permutation operations, the order (number of elements) of the symmetric group \mathrm_n is n!. Although symmetric groups can be defined on infinite sets, this article focuses on the finite symmetric groups: their applications, their elements, their conjugacy classes, a finite presentation, their subgroups, their automorphism groups, and their representation theory. For the remainder of this article, "symmetric group" will mean a symmetric group on a finite set. The symmetric group is important to diverse areas of mathematics such as Galois theory, invariant theory, the representatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doron Zeilberger
Doron Zeilberger (דורון ציילברגר, born 2 July 1950 in Haifa, Israel) is an Israeli mathematician, known for his work in combinatorics. Education and career He received his doctorate from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1976, under the direction of Harry Dym, with the thesis "New Approaches and Results in the Theory of Discrete Analytic Functions." He is a Board of Governors Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers University. Contributions Zeilberger has made contributions to combinatorics, hypergeometric identities, and q-series. Zeilberger gave the first proof of the alternating sign matrix conjecture, noteworthy not only for its mathematical content, but also for the fact that Zeilberger recruited nearly a hundred volunteer checkers to "pre-referee" the paper. In 2011, together with Manuel Kauers and Christoph Koutschan, Zeilberger proved the ''q''-TSPP conjecture, which was independently stated in 1983 by George Andrews and David P. Robbins. Zeilberger is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Igor Pak
Igor Pak (russian: link=no, Игорь Пак) (born 1971, Moscow, Soviet Union) is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, working in combinatorics and discrete probability. He formerly taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Minnesota, and he is best known for his bijective proof of the Young tableau#Dimension of a representation, hook-length formula for the number of Young tableaux, and his work on random walks. He was a keynote speaker alongside George Andrews (mathematician), George Andrews and Doron Zeilberger at the 2006 Harvey Mudd College Mathematics Conference on Enumerative Combinatorics. Pak is an Associate Editor for the journal Discrete Mathematics (journal), ''Discrete Mathematics''. He gave a László Fejes Tóth, Fejes Tóth Lecture at the University of Calgary in February 2009. In 2018, he was an List of International Congresses of Mathematicians Plenary and Invited Speakers#2018, Rio de Janeiro, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Horton Conway
John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many branches of recreational mathematics, most notably the invention of the cellular automaton called the Game of Life. Born and raised in Liverpool, Conway spent the first half of his career at the University of Cambridge before moving to the United States, where he held the John von Neumann Professorship at Princeton University for the rest of his career. On 11 April 2020, at age 82, he died of complications from COVID-19. Early life and education Conway was born on 26 December 1937 in Liverpool, the son of Cyril Horton Conway and Agnes Boyce. He became interested in mathematics at a very early age. By the time he was 11, his ambition was to become a mathematician. After leaving sixth form, he studied mathematics at Gonville and Caius College, Camb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Categorification
In mathematics, categorification is the process of replacing set-theoretic theorems with category-theoretic analogues. Categorification, when done successfully, replaces sets with categories, functions with functors, and equations with natural isomorphisms of functors satisfying additional properties. The term was coined by Louis Crane. The reverse of categorification is the process of ''decategorification''. Decategorification is a systematic process by which isomorphic objects in a category are identified as equal. Whereas decategorification is a straightforward process, categorification is usually much less straightforward. In the representation theory of Lie algebras, modules over specific algebras are the principal objects of study, and there are several frameworks for what a categorification of such a module should be, e.g., so called (weak) abelian categorifications. Categorification and decategorification are not precise mathematical procedures, but rather a class o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combinatorial Proof
In mathematics, the term ''combinatorial proof'' is often used to mean either of two types of mathematical proof: * A proof by double counting. A combinatorial identity is proven by counting the number of elements of some carefully chosen set in two different ways to obtain the different expressions in the identity. Since those expressions count the same objects, they must be equal to each other and thus the identity is established. * A bijective proof. Two sets are shown to have the same number of members by exhibiting a bijection, i.e. a one-to-one correspondence, between them. The term "combinatorial proof" may also be used more broadly to refer to any kind of elementary proof in combinatorics. However, as writes in his review of (a book about combinatorial proofs), these two simple techniques are enough to prove many theorems in combinatorics and number theory. Example An archetypal double counting proof is for the well known formula for the number \tbinom nk of ''k''-combi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combinatorial Principles
In proving results in combinatorics several useful combinatorial rules or combinatorial principles are commonly recognized and used. The rule of sum, rule of product, and inclusion–exclusion principle are often used for enumerative purposes. Bijective proofs are utilized to demonstrate that two sets have the same number of elements. The pigeonhole principle often ascertains the existence of something or is used to determine the minimum or maximum number of something in a discrete context. Many combinatorial identities arise from double counting methods or the method of distinguished element. Generating functions and recurrence relations are powerful tools that can be used to manipulate sequences, and can describe if not resolve many combinatorial situations. Rule of sum The rule of sum is an intuitive principle stating that if there are ''a'' possible outcomes for an event (or ways to do something) and ''b'' possible outcomes for another event (or ways to do another thin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Counting (proof Technique)
In combinatorics, double counting, also called counting in two ways, is a combinatorial proof technique for showing that two expressions are equal by demonstrating that they are two ways of counting the size of one set. In this technique, which call "one of the most important tools in combinatorics", one describes a finite set from two perspectives leading to two distinct expressions for the size of the set. Since both expressions equal the size of the same set, they equal each other. Examples Multiplication (of natural numbers) commutes This is a simple example of double counting, often used when teaching multiplication to young children. In this context, multiplication of natural numbers is introduced as repeated addition, and is then shown to be commutative by counting, in two different ways, a number of items arranged in a rectangular grid. Suppose the grid has n rows and m columns. We first count the items by summing n rows of m items each, then a second time by summing m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schröder–Bernstein Theorem
In set theory, the Schröder–Bernstein theorem states that, if there exist injective functions and between the sets and , then there exists a bijective function . In terms of the cardinality of the two sets, this classically implies that if and , then ; that is, and are equipotent. This is a useful feature in the ordering of cardinal numbers. The theorem is named after Felix Bernstein and Ernst Schröder. It is also known as Cantor–Bernstein theorem, or Cantor–Schröder–Bernstein, after Georg Cantor who first published it without proof. Proof The following proof is attributed to Julius König. Assume without loss of generality that ''A'' and ''B'' are disjoint. For any ''a'' in ''A'' or ''b'' in ''B'' we can form a unique two-sided sequence of elements that are alternately in ''A'' and ''B'', by repeatedly applying f and g^ to go from ''A'' to ''B'' and g and f^ to go from ''B'' to ''A'' (where defined; the inverses f^ and g^ are understood as partial functi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binomial Theorem
In elementary algebra, the binomial theorem (or binomial expansion) describes the algebraic expansion of powers of a binomial. According to the theorem, it is possible to expand the polynomial into a sum involving terms of the form , where the exponents and are nonnegative integers with , and the coefficient of each term is a specific positive integer depending on and . For example, for , (x+y)^4 = x^4 + 4 x^3y + 6 x^2 y^2 + 4 x y^3 + y^4. The coefficient in the term of is known as the binomial coefficient \tbinom or \tbinom (the two have the same value). These coefficients for varying and can be arranged to form Pascal's triangle. These numbers also occur in combinatorics, where \tbinom gives the number of different combinations of elements that can be chosen from an -element set. Therefore \tbinom is often pronounced as " choose ". History Special cases of the binomial theorem were known since at least the 4th century BC when Greek mathematician Euclid ment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catalan Number
In combinatorial mathematics, the Catalan numbers are a sequence of natural numbers that occur in various counting problems, often involving recursively defined objects. They are named after the French-Belgian mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan (1814–1894). The ''n''th Catalan number can be expressed directly in terms of binomial coefficients by :C_n = \frac = \frac = \prod\limits_^\frac \qquad\textn\ge 0. The first Catalan numbers for ''n'' = 0, 1, 2, 3, ... are :1, 1, 2, 5, 14, 42, 132, 429, 1430, 4862, 16796, 58786, ... . Properties An alternative expression for ''C''''n'' is :C_n = - for n\ge 0, which is equivalent to the expression given above because \tbinom=\tfrac\tbinomn. This expression shows that ''C''''n'' is an integer, which is not immediately obvious from the first formula given. This expression forms the basis for a proof of the correctness of the formula. The Catalan numbers satisfy the recurrence relations :C_0 = 1 \quad \text \quad C_=\sum_^C_i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
