An Algorithmist's Toolkit

Catalog description

Doing research in theory and algorithms is often inaccessible because it requires an eclectic mathematical toolkit that is spread over many areas. The goal of this course is to consolidate many of these tools into a single course. Namely, this course will equip students with a mathematical foundation that will allow them to jumpstart their own theory research, particularly in algorithms. The course will cover not only many of the recurring mathematical tools in algorithms but also the ways in which these tools are used to design algorithms with rigorous guarantees. It is intended mainly for early-stage theory graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Some planned topics include polyhedral methods, metric embeddings, techniques from graph theory and the multiplicative weights framework.