M6023 Syllabus - Fall 2007

Course Syllabus - Fall 2007

A comment on prerequisites: I am assuming no background in either Design Theory or Graph Theory. We will use Linear Algebra heavily, so Math 3191 (or a more advanced Linear Algebra course) is a real prerequisite. We will only deal with finite designs and graphs, so a background in Combinatorics will be useful (say, Math 4409 Applied Combinatorics), but not essential, as we will not be using any of the real heavy-duty combinatorial techniques. There is a bit of algebra (in particular, groups and fields) involved in the course, but these topics will be reviewed.

Meets: M, W 5:30 - 6:45
Room: CU 626

Text: P.J. Cameron & J.H. van Lint, Designs, Graphs, Codes and their Links,Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991

Exams: There will be two exams, a midterm and a final. These are both likely to be take-home exams. The midterm will cover the material in Chaps. 1-4 (inclusive) and should be expected in mid-October. The final will cover Chaps. 5-8 and will be on or due Dec. 10.

Homework: All problems in the text are to be considered assigned homework unless I say otherwise. I will, occasionally, ask for certain problems to be handed in for grading. Other problems will be worked out in class.

Projects: Each student will be assigned a different strongly regular graph (or family of such) and will be required to do a literary search on that graph and write up their findings. A short (10-15 minute) presentation of the graph to the class will be expected towards the end of the semester. The presentation is part of the project and will be factored into the grade on the project. The project paper will be submitted electronically and posted on this webpage. Grades: The final grade will be determined as follows:

               
               Exams              60%
               Project            30%
               Homework, etc.     10%

There's no curving of exam grades : A(100-90) B(89-80) C(79-70) D(69-60) F(<60)

Plusses and minuses may be used in final grades at my discretion.

Syllabus: I plan on covering the first 8 chapters of the text, at a pace of about one chapter every two weeks (although the first two chapters will probably take longer).

Dates:

August 20 : Classes Start
September 3 : Labor Day, No class
November 19 - 23 : Fall Break, No classes
December 10 - 14 : Finals Week

Note: Any and all of the above is open to negotiation.

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