Mathematics 676-1, Computational group theory

This page contains material for my M 676 course, Spring '10.

• Do you perform searches that would benefit from using symmetry arguments?
• Would you like to learn more group theory?
• Have you ever wondered how one concretely would determine some of the objects encountered in M566?
• Do you want to solve algebraic problems on a computer? (For example work out at least one nontrivial example?)

Then you should consider taking M676-1 (CRN 13745, I believe), Computational Group Theory, in Spring 09. The course time is currently TBA – I’m happy to schedule at your convenience if you let me know that you are interested.

This course aims to give an introduction to computational group theory, an area of mathematics that has newly evolved over the last 34 years and is an active field of research. It also happens to be my main research area. Its techniques find use in other areas of mathematics which use groups, in particular combinatorics and algebraic topology. If you are interested in doing your thesis in group theory or combinatorics this course is particularly strongly recommended. The course will also include some aspects of group theory that did not fit into M566 but are of interest for the course.

This is a special topics course that is unlikely to run again in the next 3 years. Don’t miss your chance to take it!

Prerequisites

You should have taken M566 or an equivalent course.

Textbook

I will make (typeset) lecture notes available. There also is D. Holt, Handbook of Computational Group Theory, Chapman&Hall/CRC, ISBN 1584883723
if you want to buy a book.

Grading

Homework (or you can audit).