Republic of the Philippines

Sorsogon State University

School of Graduate Studies
Sorsogon City
A.Y. 2020 – 2021

Historical Background of Combinatorics

Combinatorics is a young field of mathematics, starting to be an independent
branch only in the 20th century. However, combinatorial methods and problems
have been around ever since. Many combinatorial problems look entertaining or
aesthetically pleasing and indeed one can say that roots of combinatorics lie in
mathematical recreations and games. Nonetheless, this field has grown to be of
great importance in today's world, not only because of its use for other fields like
physical sciences, social sciences, biological sciences, information theory and
computer science.
Leonhard Euler (1701-1783) was a Swiss mathematician who spent most of his
life in Russia. He was responsible for making a number of the initial contributions to
combinatorics both in graph theory and enumeration. One of these contributions
was a paper he published in 1736. The people of an old town in Prussia called
Königsberg (now Kaliningrad in Russia) brought to Euler's attention a stirring question
about moving along bridges. Euler wrote a paper answering the question called "The
Seven Bridges of Königsberg." The town was on an island in the Pregel river and had
seven bridges. A frequently asked question there at the time was "Is it possible to take
a walk-through town, starting and ending at the same place, and cross each bridge
exactly once?" Euler generalized the problem to points and lines where the island
was represented by one point and the bridges were represented by lines. By
abstracting the problem, Euler was able to answer the question. It was impossible to
return to the same place by only crossing each bridge exactly once. The abstract
picture he drew of lines and points was a graph, and the beginnings of graph theory.
The study of molecules of hydrocarbons, a compound of hydrogen and carbon
atoms, also spurred the development of graph theory.
In the modern world, people in almost every area of activity find it necessary
to solve problems of a combinatorial nature. A computer scientist considers patterns
of digits and switches to encode complicated statements. A shop supervisor
prepares assignments of workers to tools or to work areas. An agronomist assigns test
crops to different fields. An electrical engineer considers alternative configurations
for a circuit. A banker studies alternative patterns for electronically transferring funds.
A university scheduling officer arranges class meeting times and students’ schedules,
etc.
There are three basic problems of combinatorics. They are the existence
problem, the counting problem, and the optimization problem. The existence
problem deals with the question: “Is there at least one arrangement of a particular
kind?”. The counting problem asks: “How many arrangements are there?”. The
optimization problem is concerned with choosing, among all possible arrangements,
that which is best according to some criteria.

THE SCIENCE OF COUNTING AND COMBINATIONS

Combinatorics is often called the “science of counting.” It focuses on the

properties of finite sets of objects, which do not have infinite numbers of objects and
so are theoretically countable. The process of describing or counting all of the items
in a specific set is called “enumeration.” Combinatorics also includes the study of
combinations, a process of selecting items from a set when the order of selection
does not matter. Finally, combinatorics also studies permutations. Permutations
involve selecting or arranging items in a list, when the order of arrangement is
important. Combinatorics also studies the relationships between objects organized
into sets in various ways.

There are numerous subfields of combinatorics used to study sets of objects in

different ways. Enumerative combinatorics is the most basic branch of the field. It
can be described as the study of counting methods used to derive the number of
objects in a given set. By contrast, analytic combinatorics is a subfield of enumerative
combinatorics. It deals with predicting the properties of large sets of objects, using
quantitative analysis. All combinatorics analysis requires detailed
knowledge of calculus. Many sub-fields make extensive use of probability theory and
predictive analysis.

COMBINATORICS APPLICATIONS

There are many different applications for combinatorics in analytic

mathematics, engineering, physics, and computer science. Among the most familiar
basic examples of combinatorics is the popular game sudoku. The game challenges
players to fill in the blanks in a “magic square” diagram with specific column and row
values. Sudoku puzzles are an example of combinatorial design, which is a branch of
combinatorics that studies arrangements of objects that have symmetry or
mathematical/geometric balance between the elements.

Combinatorics is also crucial to graph theory. Graph theory is a field of

mathematics that deals with graphs, or representations of objects in space. Graphs
are used in geometry, computer science, and other fields to model relationships
between objects. In computer science, for instance, graphs are typically used to
model computer networks, computational flow, and the structure of links within
websites. Combinatorics is used to study the enumeration of graphs. This can be seen
as counting the number of different possible graphs that can be used for a certain
application or model.
COMBINATORICS IN CODING

Combinatorics is also used in coding theory, the study of codes and their
associated properties and characteristics. Codes are used for applications, including
cryptography, compressing or translating data, and correcting errors in
mathematical, electrical, and information systems. Coding theory emerged from
combinatorial analysis. These two branches of mathematics are distinct but share
theories and techniques. Combinatorics is an advanced field of study. The
arrangement, organization, and study of relationships between objects provides
analytical information applicable to many academic and practical fields.
Combinatorics influences many aspects of computer design and programming
including the development of codes and the precise study of information and
arrangement of data.

References:
Roberts Fred S. and Barry Tesman. Applied Combinatorics. CRC Press, 2009.
https://science.jrank.or/pages/1620/gCombinatorics – History-Combinatorics.html

Prepared by:
MA. SANDRA S. TRAQUEÑA