Combinatorics and Algebra Seminar- Counting patterns

Title: Counting patterns

Speaker: Bridget Tenner, DePaul
Date and time: Friday, November 4, 4–5 pm
Place: Rome 204

Abstract: Permutations are a classic tool for representing mathematical scenarios. The study of permutations in their own right, as purely combinatorial objects, has flourished in the last half-century -- particularly through a burgeoning interest in permutation patterns. Of course, these combinatorial objects lead to an abundance of enumerative questions, but the patterns that a given permutation contains (or avoids) have also shown substantial relevance beyond themselves, with applications in combinatorics, computer science, topology, and algebra, to name a few. We will discuss the major themes of that research, including a variety of pattern-related results. We will also discuss an exciting and relatively new direction for the field. This direction, complementary to some of those classical results, has already shown great utility and seems poised for even more.