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
Three Combinatorics and Optimization graduate students receive $120,000 as part of the federal government’s CRTAS program
Current Combinatorics and Optimization PhD students Cece Henderson, Nic Swanson and Ben Wong each received a Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D). Valued at $40,000 per year, the scholarship runs for three years.
Three C&O faculty win Outstanding Performance Awards
The awards are given each year to faculty members across the University of Waterloo who demonstrate excellence in teaching and research.
Sina Kalantarzadeh 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
Crypto Reading Group on quantum computing | Huanhuan Chen & Bruce Xu, Classical Security Proofs, Game Hopping and the Random Oracle Model
| Speaker: | Huanhuan Chen &Bruce Xu |
| Affiliation: | University of Waterloo |
| Room: | MC 5501 |
Abstract: This talk introduces fundamental techniques for proving security in classical cryptography, with an emphasis on game hopping and the random oracle model. We will discuss how security arguments are structured as sequences of games and how the random oracle model simplifies the analysis of cryptographic constructions. As a first example, we will examine how a random oracle can be used to construct a secure pseudorandom function (PRF) and subsequently a message authentication code (MAC). As a second example, we will explore the role of the random oracle in the Fujisaki–Okamoto transformation and its security proof.
Algebraic and Enumerative Combinatorics Seminar | Zachary Hamaker, Schubert polynomial formulas via degeneration
| Speaker: | Zachary Hamaker |
| Affiliation: | University of Florida |
| Location: | MC 5417 |
Abstract: Schubert polynomials are monomial positive representatives for the classes of Schubert varieties in the complete flag variety. As such, they are a key tool for computation in Schubert calculus, an area of enumerative algebraic geometry. There are several combinatorial proofs of the monomial positivity of Schubert polynomials, but the first geometric explanation came much later in foundational work of Knutson and Miller. In this talk, I will discuss how to understand combinatorial formulas for Schubert polynomials via Grobner degeneration. This includes the Knutson-Miller work as well as related results by Klein-Weigandt and some work in progress. Results of mine presented come from two projects, one joint with Oliver Pechenik and Anna Weigandt, the other with Gabe Udell and Tianyi Yu.
There will be a pre-seminar presenting relevant background at beginning graduate level starting at 1:30pm in MC 5417.
Tutte Colloquium | Kateryna Tatarko, The reverse isoperimetric problem for intersections of balls
| Speaker: | Kateryna Tatarko |
| Affiliation: | University of Waterloo |
| Location: | MC 5501 |
Abstract: The classical isoperimetric problem states that the Euclidean ball has the largest volume among all convex bodies of a fixed surface area. What if we ask for the smallest volume instead? Without additional constraints, the volume can be arbitrarily small. We will discuss this reverse question for the intersections of balls of fixed radius, the class of convex bodies for which the question becomes meaningful. In particular, we will show that a lens, the intersection of two balls, minimizes the volume for a prescribed surface area in this class.