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
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.
C&O Special Seminar - Vijay Vazirani
Title: A Theory of Alternating Paths and Blossoms, from the Perspective of Minimum Length - Part 1
Speaker: | Vijay Vazirani |
Affiliation: | University of California, Irvine |
Location: | MC 5479 |
Abstract: It is well known that the proof of some prominent results in mathematics took a very long time --- decades and even centuries. The first proof of the Micali-Vazirani (MV) algorithm, for finding a maximum cardinality matching in general graphs, was recently completed --- over four decades after the publication of the algorithm (1980). MV is still the most efficient known algorithm for the problem. In contrast, spectacular progress in the field of combinatorial optimization has led to improved running times for most other fundamental problems in the last three decades, including bipartite matching and max-flow.
The new ideas contained in the MV algorithm and its proof remain largely unknown, and hence unexplored, for use elsewhere.
The purpose of this two-talk-sequence is to rectify that shortcoming.
C&O Special Seminar - Vijay Vazirani
Title: A Theory of Alternating Paths and Blossoms, from the Perspective of Minimum Length - Part 2
Speaker: | Vijay Vazirani |
Affiliation: | University of California, Irvine |
Location: | MC 5479 |
Abstract: It is well known that the proof of some prominent results in mathematics took a very long time --- decades and even centuries. The first proof of the Micali-Vazirani (MV) algorithm, for finding a maximum cardinality matching in general graphs, was recently completed --- over four decades after the publication of the algorithm (1980). MV is still the most efficient known algorithm for the problem. In contrast, spectacular progress in the field of combinatorial optimization has led to improved running times for most other fundamental problems in the last three decades, including bipartite matching and max-flow.
The new ideas contained in the MV algorithm and its proof remain largely unknown, and hence unexplored, for use elsewhere.
The purpose of this two-talk-sequence is to rectify that shortcoming.