The C&O department has 36 faculty members and 60 graduate students. We are intensely research oriented and hold a strong international reputation in each of our six major areas:
- Algebraic combinatorics
- Combinatorial optimization
- Continuous optimization
- Cryptography
- Graph theory
- Quantum computing
Read more about the department's research to learn of our contributions to the world of mathematics!
News
Remembering Dominic Welsh
The University of Waterloo community deeply mourns the loss of Professor Dominic Welsh, a distinguished mathematician and a recipient of our honorary doctorate.
Sophie Spirkl receives Sloan Foundation Fellowship
Sophie Spirkl, an assistant professor of Combinatorics and Optimization, has received a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Spirkl is one of 125 early career researchers in the United States and Canada who received a Fellowship this year.
Karen Yeats awarded renewed Canada Research Chair
Karen Yeats, an associate professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, has recently been named among the latest cohort of Canada Research Chairs.
Events
Algebraic & Enumerative Combinatorics - Sarah Brauner
Title: Configuration spaces and combinatorial algebras
Speaker: | Sarah Brauner |
Affiliation: | UQAM |
Location: | MC 6029 |
There will be a pre-seminar presenting relevant background at the beginning graduate level starting at 1pm.
Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss connections between configuration spaces, an important class of topological space, and combinatorial algebras arising from the theory of reflection groups. In particular, I will present work relating the cohomology rings of some classical configuration spaces—such as the space of n ordered points in Euclidean space—with Solomon’s descent algebra and the peak algebra. The talk will be centered around two questions.
First, how are these objects related?
Second, how can studying one inform the other? This is partially joint work with Marcelo Aguiar and Vic Reiner.
Distinguished Tutte Lecture - Katya Scheinberg
Title: Stochastic Oracles and Where to Find Them
Speaker: | Katya Scheinberg |
Affiliation: | Cornell University |
Location: | MC 5501 |
Abstract: Continuous optimization is a mature field, which has recently undergone major expansion and change. One of the key new directions is the development of methods that do not require exact information about the objective function. Nevertheless, the majority of these methods, from stochastic gradient descent to "zero-th order" methods use some kind of approximate first order information. We will overview different methods of obtaining this information, including simple stochastic gradient via sampling, robust gradient estimation in adversarial settings, traditional and randomized finite difference methods and more.
We will discuss what key properties of these inexact, stochastic first order oracles are useful for convergence analysis of optimization methods that use them.
URA Seminar - Stephen Melczer
Title: Adventures in Enumeration
Speaker: | Stephen Melczer |
Affiliation: | University of Waterloo |
Location: | MC 5479 |
Abstract: We make the argument that by combining pure mathematical tools with computational insights and applications from a vast array of disciplines, combinatorics is the perfect area to see all the wonders of math on display. Applications discussed include the analysis of classical algorithms, restricted permutations, models predicting the shape of biomembranes, queuing theory, random walks, ratchet models for gene expression, maximum likelihood degree in algebraic statistics, transcendence of zeta values, sampling algorithms for perfect matchings in bipartite graphs, and parallel synthesis for DNA storage.