Algebraic combinatorics is an area of mathematics that employs methods of abstract

algebra, notably group theory and representation theory, in various combinatorial

contexts and, conversely, applies combinatorial techniques to problems in algebra.

History
The term "algebraic combinatorics" was introduced in the late 1970s.[1] Through the
early or mid-1990s, typical combinatorial objects of interest in algebraic
combinatorics either admitted a lot of symmetries (association schemes, strongly
regular graphs, posets with a group action) or possessed a rich algebraic
structure, frequently of representation theoretic origin (symmetric functions,
Young tableaux). This period is reflected in the area 05E, Algebraic combinatorics,
of the AMS Mathematics Subject Classification, introduced in 1991.

Scope
Algebraic combinatorics has come to be seen more expansively as an area of
mathematics where the interaction of combinatorial and algebraic methods is
particularly strong and significant. Thus the combinatorial topics may be
enumerative in nature or involve matroids, polytopes, partially ordered sets, or
finite geometries. On the algebraic side, besides group theory and representation
theory, lattice theory and commutative algebra are commonly used.

Important topics
Symmetric functions
Main article: Ring of symmetric functions
The ring of symmetric functions is a specific limit of the rings of symmetric
polynomials in n indeterminates, as n goes to infinity. This ring serves as
universal structure in which relations between symmetric polynomials can be
expressed in a way independent of the number n of indeterminates (but its elements
are neither polynomials nor functions). Among other things, this ring plays an
important role in the representation theory of the symmetric groups.

Association schemes
Main article: Association scheme
An association scheme is a collection of binary relations satisfying certain
compatibility conditions. Association schemes provide a unified approach to many
topics, for example combinatorial designs and coding theory.[2][3] In algebra,
association schemes generalize groups, and the theory of association schemes
generalizes the character theory of linear representations of groups.[4][5][6]

Strongly regular graphs

Main article: Strongly regular graph
A strongly regular graph is defined as follows. Let G = (V,E) be a regular graph
with v vertices and degree k. G is said to be strongly regular if there are also
integers λ and μ such that:

Every two adjacent vertices have λ common neighbours.

Every two non-adjacent vertices have μ common neighbours.
A graph of this kind is sometimes said to be a srg(v, k, λ, μ).

Some authors exclude graphs which satisfy the definition trivially, namely those
graphs which are the disjoint union of one or more equal-sized complete graphs,[7]
[8] and their complements, the Turán graphs.

Young tableaux
Main article: Young tableau
A Young tableau (pl.: tableaux) is a combinatorial object useful in representation
theory and Schubert calculus. It provides a convenient way to describe the group
representations of the symmetric and general linear groups and to study their
properties. Young tableaux were introduced by Alfred Young, a mathematician at
Cambridge University, in 1900. They were then applied to the study of the symmetric
group by Georg Frobenius in 1903. Their theory was further developed by many
mathematicians, including Percy MacMahon, W. V. D. Hodge, G. de B. Robinson, Gian-
Carlo Rota, Alain Lascoux, Marcel-Paul Schützenberger and Richard P. Stanley.

Matroids
Main article: Matroid
A matroid is a structure that captures and generalizes the notion of linear
independence in vector spaces. There are many equivalent ways to define a matroid,
the most significant being in terms of independent sets, bases, circuits, closed
sets or flats, closure operators, and rank functions.

Matroid theory borrows extensively from the terminology of linear algebra and graph
theory, largely because it is the abstraction of various notions of central
importance in these fields. Matroids have found applications in geometry, topology,
combinatorial optimization, network theory and coding theory.[9][10]

Finite geometries
Main article: Finite geometry
A finite geometry is any geometric system that has only a finite number of points.
The familiar Euclidean geometry is not finite, because a Euclidean line contains
infinitely many points. A geometry based on the graphics displayed on a computer
screen, where the pixels are considered to be the points, would be a finite
geometry. While there are many systems that could be called finite geometries,
attention is mostly paid to the finite projective and affine spaces because of
their regularity and simplicity. Other significant types of finite geometry are
finite Möbius or inversive planes and Laguerre planes, which are examples of a
general type called Benz planes, and their higher-dimensional analogs such as
higher finite inversive geometries.

Finite geometries may be constructed via linear algebra, starting from vector
spaces over a finite field; the affine and projective planes so constructed are
called Galois geometries. Finite geometries can also be defined purely
axiomatically. Most common finite geometries are Galois geometries, since any
finite projective space of dimension three or greater is isomorphic to a projective
space over a finite field (that is, the projectivization of a vector space over a
finite field). However, dimension two has affine and projective planes that are not
isomorphic to Galois geometries, namely the non-Desarguesian planes. Similar
results hold for other kinds of finite geometries.

See also
Algebraic graph theory
Combinatorial commutative algebra
Algebraic Combinatorics (journal)
Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics
Polyhedral combinatorics
Citations
Bannai 2012.
Bannai & Ito 1984.
Godsil 1993.
Bailey 2004, p. 387.
Zieschang 2005b.
Zieschang 2005a.
Brouwer & Haemers n.d., p. 101.
Godsil & Royle 2001, p. 218.
Neel & Neudauer 2009, pp. 26–41.
Kashyap, Soljanin & Vontobel 2009.
Works cited
Bailey, Rosemary A. (2004). Association Schemes: Designed Experiments, Algebra and
Combinatorics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82446-0. MR 2047311..
(Chapters from preliminary draft are available on-line.)
Bannai, Eiichi (2012). "Algebraic Combinatorics" (PDF). School of Mathematical
Sciences Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
Bannai, Eiichi; Ito, Tatsuro (1984). Algebraic combinatorics I: Association
schemes. Menlo Park, CA: The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8053-0490-8.
MR 0882540.
Brouwer, Andries E.; Haemers, Willem H. (n.d.). Spectra of Graphs (PDF). p. 101.
Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2012.
Godsil, Chris; Royle, Gordon (2001). Algebraic Graph Theory. Graduate Texts in
Mathematics. New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-387-95241-3.
Godsil, Chris D. (1993). Algebraic Combinatorics. New York: Chapman and Hall. ISBN
0-412-04131-6. MR 1220704.
Kashyap, Navin; Soljanin, Emina; Vontobel, Pascal (2–7 August 2009). "Applications
of Matroid Theory and Combinatorial Optimization to Information and Coding Theory"
(PDF). BIRS. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
Neel, David L.; Neudauer, Nancy Ann (2009). "Matroids you have known" (PDF).
Mathematics Magazine. 82 (1): 26–41. doi:10.4169/193009809x469020.
Zieschang, Paul-Hermann (2005a). "Association Schemes: Designed Experiments,
Algebra and Combinatorics by Rosemary A. Bailey, Review" (PDF). Bulletin of the
American Mathematical Society. 43 (2): 249–253. doi:10.1090/S0273-0979-05-01077-3.
Zieschang, Paul-Hermann (2005b). Theory of association schemes. Springer. ISBN 3-
540-26136-2.
Further reading
Billera, Louis J.; Björner, Anders; Greene, Curtis; Simion, Rodica; Stanley,
Richard P., eds. (1999). New Perspectives in Algebraic Combinatorics. MSRI
Publications. Vol. 38. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052177087-4.
Hibi, Takayuki (1992). Algebraic combinatorics on convex polytopes. Glebe,
Australia: Carslaw Publications. ISBN 1875399046. OCLC 29023080.
Hochster, Melvin (1977). "Cohen–Macaulay rings, combinatorics, and simplicial
complexes". Ring Theory II: Proceedings of the Second Oklahoma Conference. Lecture
Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics. Vol. 26. Dekker. pp. 171–223. ISBN 0-8247-
6575-3. OCLC 610144046. Zbl 0351.13009.
Miller, Ezra; Sturmfels, Bernd (2005). Combinatorial commutative algebra. Graduate
Texts in Mathematics. Vol. 227. Springer. ISBN 0-387-22356-8. Zbl 1066.13001.
Stanley, Richard P. (1996). Combinatorics and commutative algebra. Progress in
Mathematics. Vol. 41 (2nd ed.). Birkhäuser. ISBN 0-8176-3836-9. Zbl 0838.13008.
Sturmfels, Bernd (1996). Gröbner bases and convex polytopes. University Lecture
Series. Vol. 8. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 0-8218-0487-1. OCLC 907364245.
Zbl 0856.13020 – via Internet Archive.
Zeilberger, Doron (2008). "Enumerative and Algebraic Combinatorics" (PDF). The
Princeton Companion to Mathematics. Princeton University Press.
External links
Media related to Algebraic combinatorics at Wikimedia Commons
Category: Algebraic combinatorics
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