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Math 2001: Discrete Mathematics, Fall 2009


Lecture Topics


Date
What we discussed/How we spent our time
Aug 24
Syllabus. Text. Why does 2+2=4? Set Theory: Informal definition of a set. List of axioms. Notation for sets. Axioms of Extentionality, Empty Set and Union. Successor operation. Definitions of 0, 1, 2.
Aug 26
Definition of inductive set. Axiom of Infinity. Definition of the natural numbers as the least inductive set. Recursive definitions of addition, multiplication and exponentiation. Informal definition of "theorem" and "proof". Proof of the theorem "2+2=4".
Aug 28
Axiom of Pairing. Definition of subset. Axiom of Power Set. Axiom of Comprehension. Russell's Paradox. Axiom of Foundation.
Aug 31
Axiom of Replacement. Axiom of Choice. Intersection of sets.
Sep 2
Proof that the intersection of all inductive sets is an inductive set (= N). Derivation of the Principle of Mathematical Induction. Examples of proofs by induction.
Sep 4
Variations on proof by induction, including Strong Induction. Practice problems.
Sep 9
Use of induction to establish arithmetical laws.
Sep 11
First lecture on logic.
Sep 14
We discussed truth tables, tautologies and contradictions, equivalent propositions. We learned why every proposition is equivalent to one expressed with only "and" and "not".
Sep 16
We learned that every proposition is equivalent to a proposition in disjunctive normal form, and we learned a procedure for putting a proposition in disjunctive normal form. We showed that (H ⇒ C), ((¬C) ⇒ (¬H)), and ((H ∧ (¬ C)) ⇒ false) are equivalent, but are not equivalent to (C &rArr H). We proved:
Thm. If 0 < x < 1, then x2 < x.
in three ways: we gave a direct proof, we proved the contrapositive, and we proved the theorem by contradiction.
Sep 18
We learned the definitions of "operation", "predicate", "structure", "term", "atomic formula" and "formula".
Sep 21
We learned about term trees and formula trees. We worked in groups to practice writing formal sentences. Solutions to practice problems.
Sep 23
We discussed how to determine if a quantified statement is true in a structure.
Sep 25
Practice problems about quantifiers.
Sep 28
Prenex normal form. Practice problems.
Sep 30
Definition of "relation". Relations encode mathematical concepts. Definition of "function". Representations of functions. Composition of functions.
Oct 2
Definitions of injection, surjection, bijection (with examples). Definitions of "image", "kernel", "inclusion map", "natural map" and "induced map". Definitions of "equivalence relation", "equivalence class". Proved that the kernel of a function is an equivalence relation.
Oct 5
Description of all equivalence relations on a 3-element set. Definition of "partition". Relationship between partitions and equivalence relations.
Oct 7
Review of equivalence relations and partitions. Proof that every equivalence relation is the kernel of a function. Description of the canonical factorization of a function:
F = (inclusion) o (induced bijection) o (natural map)
Oct 9
Order relations: strict and nonstrict orders. Irreflexivity, asymmetry, antisymmetry. Partially ordered sets (= posets) and totally ordered sets. Relationship between strict and nonstrict orders. Difference between "maximal" and "maximum".
Oct 12
Description of the poset of all partial orders on sets of size 2 or 3. Extending an order. Linear extensions. Proof that every maximal extension of a partial order is a linear order. Proof that every (finite) partial order is the intersection of its linear extensions.
Oct 14
Review.
Oct 16
Exam.
Oct 19
The integers: review of some properties of the natural numbers, including the definition of the standard order on N. Proof that N is a well ordered set. Proofs that: 0 is not a successor, every nonzero natural number is a successor, successor is a 1-1 function, addition of natural numbers is cancellative. Definition of the set of integers as equivalence classes of pairs of natural numbers.
Oct 21
The integers: Proof that the relation used in the definition of the integers is really an equivalence relation. Definition of the arithmetic on Z. Discussion of the meaning of "well-defined". Proofs that the arithmetic structure on Z is well-defined.
Oct 23
The integers: Proofs of some laws of arithmetic for Z. Proof that every integer is of the form mZ or -mZ for some m∈ N. Definition of the order on Z. Proof that the order is well defined.
Oct 26
The integers: Homomorphism, isomorphism. The map mmZ is a 1-1 homomorphism of N into Z, which allows us to think of the natural numbers as a substructure of the integers.
Definition of "cardinality", |A|=|B|, |A|=m, "finite". Sketch of a proof of the Sum Rule and the Product Rule. Proof that there are nm functions from an m-element set to an n-element set.
Oct 28
Canceled due to snow.
Oct 30
Counting: There are n! ways to linearly order an n-element set. The number of subsets of an n-element set is 2n. The number of characteristic functions on an n-element set is 2n. The number of k-element subsets of an n-element set is C(n,k) = n!/(k! (n-k)!), which is read "n-choose-k".
Nov 2
Counting: Two proofs of Pascal's Identity. Pascal's Triangle. Proof of the Binomial Theorem. We worked out some exercises involving the Binomial Theorem.
Nov 4
Counting ordered partitions. Multinomial coefficients. Multinomial Theorem. Pascal's Identities for multinomial coefficients. Pascal's Pyramid.
Nov 6
The Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion. Formula for counting the number of surjective functions from an n-element set to an m-element set.
Nov 9
More on the Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion. Counting derangements. Practice problems.
Nov 11
Stirling numbers and Bell numbers: Definitions and notation. Examples. Recursion for the Stirling numbers. Table of small values.
Nov 13
Stirling numbers and Bell numbers: Formula for Stirling numbers. Binomial-type Theorem for Stirling numbers. We worked on practice problems.
Nov 16
Formulas for distributions.
Nov 18
Undergraduate Committee Survey. Practice problems about distributions. Solutions.
Nov 20
Discrete probability: sample space, sample point, simple and compound events, probability distribution, uniform distribution. Practice exercises.
Nov 30
Probability practice problems.
Dec 2
Graph theory: definition of graph, multigraph, directed graph, adjacency, incidence. Examples: paths, cycles, complete graphs, complete r-partite graphs. Definition of planar drawings and planar graphs. Euler's Formula: v-e+r=2. (Proof was by induction on edges using contraction of edges in the inductive step.)
Dec 4
Description of the five Platonic solids. Explanation of why the vertices and edges of any convex polyhedron describe a planar graph. More generally, a graph is planar iff it can be drawn on the sphere without edges crossing. Proof that if G is connected, loopless, bipartite, and has at least 3 vertices, then e ≤ 3v-6. Proof that K5 is not planar. Corollary: Any graph that has a subgraph that is a subdivision of K5 is nonplanar. In particular, Kn is nonplanar iff n ≥ 5.
Dec 7
Bipartite graphs. Valid colorings. k-colorability. Proof that the following are equivalent:

(1) G is bipartite.
(2) G is 2-colorable.
(3) G has no odd cycles.
(4) The lengths of two paths connecting distinct vertices u and v in G have the same parity.

Proof that if G is connected, loopless, bipartite, and has at least 4 vertices, then e ≤ 2v-4. Proof that K3,3 is not planar. Statement of Kuratowski's Theorem: a (finite) graph is planar iff it contains no subgraph that is a subdivision of K5 or K3,3. Example: the Petersen graph has a subgraph that is a subdivision of K3,3.
Dec 9
The classification of compact 2-manifolds: Description of a compact 2-manifold. In what sense will we consider two 2-manifolds to be the same? The approach to classification via cutting and gluing. Using the Euler characteristic to distinguish between 2-manifolds. Computing the Euler characteristic of the n-hole torus.
Dec 11
Review for the final.