Workshop on Probabilistic and Extremal Combinatorics

02/05/2018 9:00 am - 02/09/2018 1:30 pm

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The workshop on Probabilistic and Extremal Combinatorics will take place February 5-9, 2018 at the Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, located at 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA.

Extremal and Probabilistic Combinatorics are two of the most central branches of modern combinatorial theory. Extremal Combinatorics deals with problems of determining or estimating the maximum or minimum possible cardinality of a collection of finite objects satisfying certain requirements. Such problems are often related to other areas including Computer Science, Information Theory, Number Theory and Geometry. This branch of Combinatorics has developed spectacularly over the last few decades. Probabilistic Combinatorics can be described informally as a (very successful) hybrid between Combinatorics and Probability, whose main object of study is probability distributions on discrete structures.

There are many points of interaction between these fields. There are deep similarities in methodology. Both subjects are mostly asymptotic in nature. Quite a few important results from Extremal Combinatorics have been proven applying probabilistic methods, and vice versa. Such emerging subjects as Extremal Problems in Random Graphs or the theory of graph limits stand explicitly at the intersection of the two fields and indicate their natural symbiosis.

The symposia will focus on the interactions between the above areas. These topics include Extremal Problems for Graphs and Set Systems, Ramsey Theory, Combinatorial Number Theory, Combinatorial Geometry, Random Graphs, Probabilistic Methods and Graph Limits.

Participation: The workshop is open to participation by all interested researchers, subject to capacity. Click here to register.

A list of lodging options convenient to the Center can also be found on our recommended lodgings page.

Confirmed participants include:

Co-organizers of this workshop include Benny Sudakov and David Conlon.  More details about this event, including participants, will be updated soon.