REU Site: Discrete Random Structures

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City TN

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year project "Discrete Random Structures" will enable the Principal Investigator, Anant Godbole, to consolidate his involvement with undergraduate research by leading eight students each year in a series of contemporary and high-level research endeavours, each designed to convince the participants that they may contribute in a meaningful way to the development of the field of mathematics. The team-members' problems, while emanating in areas such as combinatorics; number theory; graph theory; geometry; algorithms; and molecular biology, will have a stochastic flavor -- so that solutions will be sought through the use of methods in contemporary probability and classical analysis. The participants will be selected after a nationwide search, and will spend two months at East Tennessee State University during the summer. Based on the Prinicipal Investigator's track record over the last twelve years, it can be predicted that the student researchers will each work on an average of two problems, either individually or in teams of two or more, and be able to make significant progress on at least one of these endeavors. The students' findings will be presented at national meetings such as the Annual AMS/MAA Meeting, or at a carefully selected Probability/Combinatorics conference. As in the past, every effort will be made to submit the students' papers to high-level journals for possible publication. We expect to select students from a broad range of colleges and universities, and are totally committed to the vigorous recruitment of women, minorities and disabled students.