Applied Combinatorics

For courses in undergraduate Combinatorics for juniors or seniors. This carefully crafted text emphasizes applications and problem solving. It is divided into 4 parts. Part I introduces basic tools of combinatorics, Part II discusses advanced tools, Part III covers the existence problem, and Part IV deals with combinatorial optimization.

Applied Combinatorics provides readers with an extensive look at combinatorics. Covers many new detailed applications, including material on list colorings, expanding discussion of scheduling legislative committees, material on DNA sequence alignment, and material on cryptography. Includes a section dealing with stable marriages and their many modern applications, including the assignment of interns to hospitals, dynamic labor markets, and strategic behavior. Uses real applications from the current literature and the extensive modern literature citations. Covers problem-solving through a variety of exercises that test routine ideas, introduce new concepts and applications, or attempt to challenge the reader to use the combinatorial techniques developed. Ideal as an introduction to Combinatorics.