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
Prof. Alfred Menezes is named Fellow of the International Association for Cryptologic Researc
The Fellows program, which was established in 2004, is awarded to no more than 0.25% of the IACR’s 3000 members each year and recognizes “outstanding IACR members for technical and professional contributions to cryptologic research.”
C&O student Ava Pun receives Jessie W. H. Zou Memorial Award
She received the award in recognition of her research on simulating virtual training environments for autonomous vehicles, which she conducted at the start-up Waabi.
Jeremy Chiwezer wins Governor General's Gold Medal
The Governor General’s Gold Medal is one of the highest student honours awarded by the University of Waterloo.
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.