Math 281: Combinatorics (Spring 2024)

This course emphasizes enumerative combinatorics, a classical subject in mathematics related to the theory of counting. Problems in this area often pertain to finding the number of possible arrangements of a set of objects under some particular constraints. This course incorporates a wide set of problems involving enumerative combinatorics, as well as theory and applications.

Time and location

  • Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10:00-10:50am (SMUD 204)

Help hours

  • My regular office hours in SMUD 401:
    • Tuesday 2:30-4:30
    • Wednesday 10:00-10:50
    • Friday 10:00-10:50
  • Our Math Fellow (TA) is Alan Li. His regular help hours are:
    • Monday 9:00-10:30pm in SMUD 205
    • Wednesday 7:30-9:00pm in SMUD 205

Problem Sets

Exams

There will be two midterms and a three hour final exam. Mark the midterm dates on your calendar now.

  • Midterm 1 will be in class on Wednesday 2/28.
    • You are allowed a one page notesheet, front and back, so that you don’t need to memorize formulas. Put some time into it – deciding what to put on the note sheet is a very useful study process!
  • Midterm 2 will be in class on Wednesday 4/10.
    • You are allowed a one page notesheet, front and back, so that you don’t need to memorize formulas. Put some time into it – deciding what to put on the note sheet is a very useful study process!
    • The exam is not cumulative – covered material begins with the first topic not covered on Midterm 1.
      • Topics: end of 2.3 (counting sequences chosen from a given word) through beginning of 2.6.6 (Catalan recurrence, but not the generating function)
  • The final exam date is on Friday 5/17, from 9am to noon.
    • You are allowed a one page notesheet, front and back, so that you don’t need to memorize formulas. Put some time into it – deciding what to put on the note sheet is a very useful study process!
    • The exam will be cumulative, though with increased emphasis on the material not yet covered on the midterms.