Events - Will Perkins "Five lectures on statistical mechanics methods in combinatorics"

Newsflash: new course by Will Perkins

Jan 11 - April 30, 2021

Right now Will Perkins reads another online course "Statistical Physics and Applications" in UIC. To join and get the zoom link, please, write an email to Will.

Learn more

November 17 - December 1, 2020

Mini-Course

Mini-course by Will Perkins "Five lectures on statistical mechanics methods in combinatorics"

Abstract:

I will introduce some basic objects, terminology, and questions from statistical mechanics and then translate these to combinatorics to arrive at some new problems and new perspectives on old problems. Applications discussed will include extremal and enumerative problems about independent sets in graphs and problems about sphere packings in Euclidean space.

The schedule of lectures:

November 17, Tue
19.00 - 20.00 (MSK)

Lecture 1
Fundamentals of statistical physics

November 20, Fri
18.00 - 19.00 (MSK)

Lecture 2
Extremal combinatorics of sparse graphs

November 24, Tue
19.00 - 20.00 (MSK)

Lecture 3
Expansion methods and enumeration

November 27, Fri
18.00 - 19.00 (MSK)

Lecture 4
Combinatorics at low temperatures

December 1, Tue
19.00 - 20.00 (MSK)

Lecture 5
Sphere packings and kissing numbers

Notes