Tutte Colloquium - Stephen Melczer

Title: Generating Functions: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications

Abstract:

Generating functions are an invaluable tool in many areas of discrete mathematics and beyond. In this talk we examine generating functions from an algorithmic perspective: how much information can be obtained from a generating function in an automatic manner, and at what cost? Applications to lattice path enumeration, non-negativity proofs for rational functions, and queuing theory will be discussed.