INSTRUCTOR:  Prof. Peter Magyar   magyarp@msu.edu   Zoom 4457248136   517-353-6330 (office)

MAIN PAGE:  Frequently updated with notes, assignments, announcements, and corrections.   math.msu.edu/~magyarp/math481

LECTURES:  Mon, Wed, Fri 9:10-10:00am in Wells A-334. Recorded videos from a previous semester are available on Kaltura. I expect students to attend all lectures, unless you have a documented reason and you make prior arrangements with me.

OFFICE HOURS:  Mon, Wed, Fri 10:30am-12:00pm in Wells D-326 & Zoom, and by appointment. Check my phone or Zoom anytime to see if I'm in.

TEXT:  Harris, Hirst, and Mossinghoff, Combinatorics and Graph Theory, 2nd ed., available free online from MSU library. The Springer site also offers a $40 hard copy. We will first cover Chapter 2, then selections from Chapter 1. Syllabus and links on the Main Page.

GOALS: This is a problem-based course on combinatorial theory. Students will learn to solve problems about enumeration, binomial coefficients, generating functions, recurrences, counting with symmmetry, graphs, trees, planar graphs, and graph coloring. Students will also practice writing proofs in a couple of hand-in homeworks.

GRADES:  Based on:

Quizzes	150
Midterm exam	100
Final exam	150
Total	400 points

Tentative Grade Scale:   ≥90% = 4.0 ,   ≥85% = 3.5 ,   ≥80% = 3.0 ,   ≥75% = 2.5 ,   ≥70% = 2.0 ,   ≥60% = 1.0.

QUIZZES:  First 10 minutes of each class, with questions based on the previous lecture's homework problems. I will assume you have done the homework, so that you can do a similar quiz problem quickly.

There will be 35 to 40 quizzes, each worth 3 or 4 points. Missed quizzes will count as zero, and I do not normally give makeups. But I will add an extra 10pts to your quiz total in the final grade, to compensate for about 3 absences.

Do the HW carefully to prepare for quizzes. Collectively, they count as much as the Final Exam, and they usually track exam scores closely. If you fail several quizzes, you are headed for failing the course, and should arrange with me to get help.

HAND-IN HOMEWORK:  I will assign two or three Hand-In Homeworks each worth 10 points as part of the Quiz score. In addition to grades on your written work, I will grade some of these based on individual oral presentations to be arranged.

MIDTERM EXAM:  In class, covering topics before Spring Break. No makeup will be given unless you make arrangements before the test (with a documented reason).

FINAL EXAM:  In class during Exam Week, covering all topics of the course. No makeup will be given unless you make arrangements before the test (with a documented reason).

DAILY HOMEWORK:  I will not collect the homework problems listed on the Main Page after each lecture, along with solutions. Nevertheless, they are the key to success in this course, the crucial step in learning. Quiz and test problems will be difficult to impossible unless you have already done (not just read solutions to) the corresponding homework problems.

Each problem you give up on is a lost opportunity to learn: only look at the solution after a serious effort. If you need the solutions for most problems, you should arrange with me to get help. You cannot learn mathematics by watching it any more than you can learn to play a sport: you must practice it yourself.

You may hand in problems marked Extra Credit, each worth about 1 or 2 points in the Quiz grade, preferably within a week or two after they are assigned.

ACCESSIBILITY: Let me know if you have any difficulty using any of the course materials, and we will arrange a work-around.