Discrete Mathematics Projects

The main goals of the course project are to

allow students to choose a topic of personal interest for in-depth
study and research
provide experience in reading technical literature
provide experience in self-directing a partnered project
provide practice at presenting technical information (orally and
written)
provide a meaningful culminating experience for every student
Guidelines:
1. Choose a topic and group: You must choose a topic that
interests you and appropriately challenges you. The topic should
build upon nowledge you gained in this course. You will decide
on a project topic in consultation with your partner(s). (!ost of
you will wor in groups of "# some in groups of $.) The end of
this document contains a list of suggested topics# but you are
encouraged to propose your own topic.
$. Background research: %ach person in the group must research
the chosen topic. &e suggest starting with web-searches#
looing for scienti'c articles# and using interlibrary-loan as
necessary to procure boos (plan ahead(). Your bibliography
should not rely solely on websites ) you need to use some
published documents (available online or o*).
". Prepare informal project proposal: The informal project
proposal# due in class on Thursday Nov !# should be an
approximately +- to 1-page outline of the project goals (what do
you hope to accomplish,)# an explanation of why the chosen
topic is appropriate- given your bacgrounds# and a list of your
preliminary references (which may or may not wind up in your
'nal bibliography). -.o not propose to learn about algorithm
complexity if you already now about algorithm complexity. .o
propose to learn about algorithm complexity if you have no idea
what this means but it sounds interesting.
/. Prepare project outline0 The formal project outline# due on
Thursday Nov "# $y #am# should be a more 1eshed out
version of the informal project proposal. %nough detail should be
provided concerning your project goals (&hat exactly are you
doing, &hat do you hope to learn2accomplish,) and progress
(&hat is done so far, &hat is left to do,) for the professor to
determine if the scope of wor is appropriate. 3eedbac will be
provided in class on Thursday 4ov $5.
6. Prepare presentation:
a% &ritten: %ach pair will write a roughly 7 page paper
using the provided 8%%% style 'les. The paper should be
professionally written and should (in most cases) include
sections such as0
i. 9bstract ) :ive a short# self-contained description of
the project. This will be archived for future reference.
ii. 8ntroduction - :ive a brief introduction to your chosen
topic and outline what you will do in the balance of
the paper (ie. %xplain the goals of the paper).
8ndicate why this topic is exciting2useful.
iii. ;acground - 8ntroduce any new de'nitions# notation#
or other bacground information necessary for
understanding the rest of the paper.
iv. !ain <ection(s) - .escribe the heart of your project.
&hat did you learn, &hat theorems did you prove or
results did you discover, &hat examples did you
'nd2invent, =ow did you advance your learning,
<how o* the new stu* that you now now. Your
paper must include some original' creative
thought. 3or example# you might come up with a
new result# a novel example# an original comparison
of di*erent systems# or a new proof of an old result.
>learly indicate what is original and what was found
in references. You can (and should) use references to
guide your write-ups of the examples# theorems# and
proofs# but you must explain the details in your own
words. ?roofs and examples should not be copied#
but rather explained as your group has grown to
understand them.
v. >onclusions - &rap things up. @emind us what new
nowledge your project produced and remind us why
your project is exciting2useful. You might also draw
connections among the new stu* you learned or
perhaps draw connections to another aspect of the
course.
vi. ;ibliography.
vii. ?roof-read# proof-read# proof-read. This is one of the
reasons why we do it in pairs. Ase writing tutors.
$% (ral: %ach pair will deliver a 16 minute presentation on
their project. The oral presentation will essentially give an
overview of the content of the paper to the class. Asually#
the oral presentation will not contain formal proofs.
@emember# the goal here is to explain new nowledge to
your classmates. <tructure your presentation as you would
hope others would structure theirs( !ae it interesting and
easy to understand. ?ractice# practice# practice. This is
why you have friends and2or stu*ed animals.
)valuation: ?lease see the B?resenting !athematicsC document for
criteria for e*ective papers and oral presentations. These criteria will
be used in the grading process. %ach student will also evaluate every
other presentation.
Project *deas
:raph theory and the channel assignment problem0 D($#1) graph
labelings (opportunity to continue research in the future)
<pace-time bloc codes (opportunity to continue research in the
future)
%rror-control codes (opportunity to learn more in %>% elective
!T= "1/E)
>ryptosystems2hash functions
<ymmetry :roups
:roup theory and advanced counting techniFues
:raph algorithms
:roup theory and connections to @ubicGs cube
!agic sFuares ) combinatorial analysis
Datin sFuares ) combinatorial analysis
@amsey 4umbers
>ombinatorial designs
>atalan 4umbers
@oo polynomials
9lgorithm complexity
>ontinuation of !ini-?roject
8dea spared from %nrichment @eading articles
3or more ideas# see
http022www.mathpages.com2home2icombina.htm . Hne student
based a project on BThe coin in " fountains#C which turned into a
research project.
3or basic de'nitions of di*erent areas of discrete math# see
http022mathworld.wolfram.com2topics2.iscrete!athematics.html