Title: Some Algebraic Combinatorics
Speaker: Arran Hamm, Rutgers University
Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 12:10pm
Location: Graduate Student Lounge, 7th Floor, Hill Center, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, Piscataway, NJ
In this talk we will discuss the Chevalley-Warning Theorem and Combinatorial Nullstellensatz (two algebraic theorems) and their applications to combinatorial problems. The Cauchy-Davenport Theorem states that if we have two nonempty subsets, A and B, of Z_p for p prime, then |A+B| is at least the minimum of |A|+|B|-1 and p. We'll see an algebraic proof using CN and extend to a few related problems. If time permits, we'll discuss the formerly-known-as Kemnitz Conjecture."
Lunch will be provided.