William Lawrence Kocay is a Canadian professor at the department of computer science at St. Paul's College of the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.graph theorist. He is known for his work in
graph algorithms
The following is a list of well-known algorithms along with one-line descriptions for each.
Automated planning
Combinatorial algorithms
General combinatorial algorithms
* Brent's algorithm: finds a cycle in function value iterations using on ...
and the
reconstruction conjecture
Informally, the reconstruction conjecture in graph theory says that graphs are determined uniquely by their subgraphs. It is due to KellyKelly, P. J.A congruence theorem for trees ''Pacific J. Math.'' 7 (1957), 961–968. and Ulam.Ulam, S. M. ...
and is affectionately referred to as "Wild Bill" by his students. Bill Kocay is a former managing editor (from Jan 1988 to May 1997) of ''Ars Combinatoria'', a Canadian journal of combinatorial mathematics, is a founding fellow of the
Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications
The Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA) is an international scientific organization formed in 1990 to increase the visibility and influence of the combinatorial community. In pursuit of this goal, the ICA sponsors conferences, ...
.
His research interests include
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...
s for graphs, the development of mathematical software, the graph reconstruction problem, the graph isomorphism problem,
projective geometry
In mathematics, projective geometry is the study of geometric properties that are invariant with respect to projective transformations. This means that, compared to elementary Euclidean geometry, projective geometry has a different setting, pro ...
,
Hamiltonian cycle
In the mathematical field of graph theory, a Hamiltonian path (or traceable path) is a path in an undirected or directed graph that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian cycle (or Hamiltonian circuit) is a cycle that visits each vertex ...
s,
planarity
Planarity is a puzzle computer game by John Tantalo, based on a concept by Mary Radcliffe at Western Michigan University.
The name comes from the concept of planar graphs in graph theory; these are graphs that can be embedded in the Euclidean pla ...
combinatorial design
Combinatorial design theory is the part of combinatorial mathematics that deals with the existence, construction and properties of systems of finite sets whose arrangements satisfy generalized concepts of ''balance'' and/or ''symmetry''. These co ...
s.
Publications
* Some new methods in reconstruction theory, W. L. Kocay – Combinatorial mathematics, IX (Brisbane, 1981), LNM
* Some NP-complete problems for hypergraph degree sequences, CJ Colbourn, WL Kocay, DR Stinson – Discrete Applied Mathematics, 1986 – portal.acm.org
List of University of Waterloo people
The University of Waterloo, located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is a comprehensive public university that was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles. It has grown into an institution of more than 42,000 students, faculty, and ...