When choosing k random elements from a group the kth expectation number is the expected size of the subgroup generated by those specific elements. The main purpose of this thesis is to study the asymptotic properties for the first and second expectation numbers of large cyclic groups. The first chapter introduces the kth expectation number. This formula allows us to determine the expected size of any group. Explicit examples and computations of the first and second expectation number are given in the second chapter. Here we show example of both cyclic and dihedral groups. In chapter three we discuss arithmetic functions which are crucial to computing the first and second expectation numbers. The fourth chapter is where we introduce and prove asymptotic results for the first expectation number of large cyclic groups. The asymptotic results for the second expectation number of cyclic groups is given in the fifth chapter. Finally, the results are summarized and future work for expectation numbers is discussed.

The first part of the dissertation concerns the Ising problem proposed to Ernst Ising by his supervisor Wilhelm Lenz in the early 20s. The Ising model, or perhaps more correctly the Lenz-Ising model, tries to capture the behaviour of phase transitions, i.e. how local rules of engagement can produce large scale behaviour. Two decades later Lars Onsager solved the Ising problem for the quadratic lattice without an outer field. Using his ideas solutions for other lattices in two dimensions have been constructed. We describe a method for calculating the Ising partition function for immense square grids, up to linear order 320 (i.e. 102400 vertices). In three dimensions however only a few results are known. One of the most important unanswered questions is at which temperature the Ising model has its phase transition. In this dissertation it is shown that an upper bound for the critical coupling Kc, the inverse absolute temperature, is 0.29 for the tree dimensional cubic lattice. To be able to get more information one has to use different statistical methods. We describe one sampling method that can use simple state generation like the Metropolis algorithm for large lattices. We also discuss how to reconstruct the entropy from the model, in order to obtain parameters as the free energy. The Ising model gives a partition function associated with all finite graphs. In this dissertation we show that a number of interesting graph invariants can be calculated from the coefficients of the Ising partition function. We also give some interesting observations about the partition function in general and show that there are, for any N, N non-isomorphic graphs with the same Ising partition function. The second part of the dissertation is about matrix operations. We consider the problem of multiplying them when the entries are elements in a finite semiring or in an additively finitely generated semiring. We describe a method that uses O(n3 / log n) arithmetic operations. We also consider the problem of reducing n x n matrices over a finite field of size q using O(n2 / logq n) row operations in the worst case.

In this dissertation we study the excedance permutation statistic. We start by extending the classical excedance statistic of the symmetric group to the affine symmetric group eSn and determine the generating function of its distribution. The proof involves enumerating lattice points in a skew version of the root polytope of type A. Next we study the excedance set statistic on the symmetric group by defining a related algebra which we call the excedance algebra. A combinatorial interpretation of expansions from this algebra is provided. The second half of this dissertation deals with the topology of the Frobenius complex, that is the order complex of a poset whose definition was motivated by the classical Frobenius problem. We determine the homotopy type of the Frobenius complex in certain cases using discrete Morse theory. We end with an enumeration of Q-factorial posets. Open questions and directions for future research are located at the end of each chapter.

Boij-Söderberg theory shows that the Betti table of a graded module can be written as a linear combination of pure diagrams with integer coefficients. In chapter 2 using Ferrers hypergraphs and simplicial polytopes, we provide interpretations of these coefficients for ideals with a d-linear resolution, their quotient rings, and for Gorenstein rings whose resolution has essentially at most two linear strands. We also establish a structural result on the decomposition in the case of quasi-Gorenstein modules. These results are published in the Journal of Algebra, see [25]. In chapter 3 we provide some further results about Boij-Söderberg decompositions. We show how truncation of a pure diagram impacts the decomposition. We also prove constructively that every integer multiple of a pure diagram of codimension 2 can be realized as the Betti table of a module. In chapter 4 we introduce the idea of a c-polar self-dual polytope. We prove that in dimension 2 only the odd n-gons have an embedding which is polar self-dual. We also define the family of Ferrers polytopes. We prove that the Ferrers polytope in dimension d is d-polar self-dual hence establishing a nontrivial example of a polar self-dual polytope in all dimension. Finally we prove that the Ferrers polytope in dimension d supports a cellular resolution of the Stanley-Reisner ring of the (d+3)-gon.

Les codes identifiants dans les graphes modélisent des systèmes de détection et de localisation à distance de pannes multiples dans les réseaux. Nous abordons dans une première partie différents problèmes de nature algorithmique ou structurelle concernant plusieurs variations autour de ces codes ; en particulier, nous obtenons de nombreux résultats quant à la structure des graphes sans jumeaux. Ces questions nous amènent dans une deuxième partie à considérer une notion de puissance de graphe, que nous étudions plus avant. Nous obtenons en particulier des résultats de type extrémal et nous consacrons l'étude des racines carrées de graphes.

Cette thèse présente différents aperçus de problèmes de mathématiques discrètes en lien avec la théorie des graphes. Elle s'intéresse en particulier à la coloration de graphes, i.e. l'assignation de couleurs aux sommets (ou arêtes) d'un graphes sous certaines contraintes locales, notamment l'exclusion de motifs. Pour différents types de coloration (choisissabilité des sommets, des arêtes, coloration acyclique ou linéaire, ...), un état de l'art est présenté, accompagné de résultats d'existence sur les graphes planaires ou leurs sous-classes, ayant pour but de minimiser le nombre de couleurs nécessaires pour un degré maximum ou un degré moyen maximum (Mad) donnés. Cette thèse traite également de décompositions induites de graphes, et démontre qu'il existe pour tout graphe $H$ une suite infinie de graphes denses dont les arêtes peuvent être partitionnées en copies induites de $H$. Cette preuve requiert le formalisme des hypergraphes, pour lesquels un autre résultat de décomposition est démontré, i.e. une décomposition optimale de l'hypergraphe complet 3-régulier en hypergraphes $\alpha$-acycliques. La troisième parti porte sur des questions algorithmiques. Elles consistent en problèmes d'optimisation ou d'existence, motivés par le routage d'information dans les réseaux, analysés par le formalisme classique de complexité algorithmique, ou traitent de la recherche de sous-graphes dans le formalisme de la complexité paramétrée. Dans une quatrième partie sont considérés des problèmes de comptage issus de la chimie, suivis de la présentation de Programmes Linéaires Entiers utilisés dans le logiciel de mathématiques Sage.

If R is a list of positive integers with greatest common denominator equal to 1, calculating the Frobenius number of R is in general NP-hard. Dino Lorenzini defines the arithmetical graph, which naturally arises in arithmetic geometry, and a notion of genus, the g-number, that in specific cases coincides with the Frobenius number of R. A result of Dino Lorenzini's gives a method for quickly calculating upper bounds for the g-number of arithmetical graphs. We discuss the arithmetic geometry related to arithmetical graphs and present an example of an arithmetical graph that arises in this context. We also discuss the construction for Lorenzini's Riemann-Roch structure and how it relates to the Riemann-Roch theorem for finite graphs shown by Matthew Baker and Serguei Norine. We then focus on the connection between the Frobenius number and arithmetical graphs. Using the Laplacian of an arithmetical graph and a formulation of chip-firing on the vertices of an arithmetical graph, we show results that can be used to find arithmetical graphs whose g-numbers correspond to the Frobenius number of R. We describe how this can be used to quickly calculate upper bounds for the Frobenius number of R.

In discrete mathematics, a convex space is an ordered pair (V,M) where M is a family of subsets of a finite set V , such that: ∅ ∈M, V ∈M, andMis closed under intersection. The elements of M are called convex sets. For a set S ⊆ V , the convex hull of S is the smallest convex set that contains S. A point x of a convex set X is an extreme point of X if X\{x} is also convex. A convex space (V,M) with the property that every convex set is the convex hull of its extreme points is called a convex geometry. A graph G has a P-elimination ordering if an ordering v1, v2, ..., vn of the vertices exists such that vi has property P in the graph induced by vertices vi, vi+1, ..., vn for all i = 1, 2, ...,n. Farber and Jamison [18] showed that for a convex geometry (V,M), X ∈Mif and only if there is an ordering v1, v2, ..., vk of the points of V − X such that vi is an extreme point of {vi, vi+1, ..., vk}∪ X for each i = 1, 2, ...,k. With these concepts in mind, this thesis surveys the literature and summarizes results regarding graph convexities and elimination orderings. These results include classifying graphs for which different types of convexities give convex geometries, and classifying graphs for which different vertex ordering algorithms result in a P-elimination ordering, for P the characteristic property of the extreme points of the convexity. We consider the geodesic, monophonic, m3, 3-Steiner and 3-monophonic convexities, and the vertex ordering algorithms LexBFS, MCS, MEC and MCC. By considering LexDFS, a recently introduced vertex ordering algorithm of Corneil and Krueger [11], we obtain new results: these are characterizations of graphs for which all LexDFS orderings of all induced subgraphs are P-elimination orderings, for every characteristic property P of the extreme vertices for the convexities studied in this thesis. / Graduate / 0405 / rachela@uvic.ca

In discrete mathematics, a convex space is an ordered pair (V,M) where M is a family of subsets of a finite set V , such that: ∅ ∈M, V ∈M, andMis closed under intersection. The elements of M are called convex sets. For a set S ⊆ V , the convex hull of S is the smallest convex set that contains S. A point x of a convex set X is an extreme point of X if X\{x} is also convex. A convex space (V,M) with the property that every convex set is the convex hull of its extreme points is called a convex geometry. A graph G has a P-elimination ordering if an ordering v1, v2, ..., vn of the vertices exists such that vi has property P in the graph induced by vertices vi, vi+1, ..., vn for all i = 1, 2, ...,n. Farber and Jamison [18] showed that for a convex geometry (V,M), X ∈Mif and only if there is an ordering v1, v2, ..., vk of the points of V − X such that vi is an extreme point of {vi, vi+1, ..., vk}∪ X for each i = 1, 2, ...,k. With these concepts in mind, this thesis surveys the literature and summarizes results regarding graph convexities and elimination orderings. These results include classifying graphs for which different types of convexities give convex geometries, and classifying graphs for which different vertex ordering algorithms result in a P-elimination ordering, for P the characteristic property of the extreme points of the convexity. We consider the geodesic, monophonic, m3, 3-Steiner and 3-monophonic convexities, and the vertex ordering algorithms LexBFS, MCS, MEC and MCC. By considering LexDFS, a recently introduced vertex ordering algorithm of Corneil and Krueger [11], we obtain new results: these are characterizations of graphs for which all LexDFS orderings of all induced subgraphs are P-elimination orderings, for every characteristic property P of the extreme vertices for the convexities studied in this thesis. / Graduate / 0405 / rachela@uvic.ca

Since the introduction of Pollard's rho method for integer factorisation in 1975 there has been great interest in understanding the dynamics of quadratic maps over finite fields. One avenue for this, and indeed the heuristic on which Pollard bases the proof of the method's efficacy, is the idea that quadratic maps behave roughly like random maps. We explore this heuristic from the perspective of comparing the number of periodic points. We find that empirically random maps appear to model the number of periodic points of quadratic maps well, and moreover prove that the number of periodic points of random maps satisfy an interesting asymptotic behaviour that we have observed experimentally for quadratic maps.