Prerequisite: MATH 300 and MATH 310 (or the equivalent, or permission of an instructor). It is expected that you are thoroughly familiar with the material from these courses, including: elementary set theory, modular arithmetic, counting, direct proof, contrapositive proof, proof by contradiction, if-and-only-if proof, proof by induction (both regular and strong), existence proof, counterexamples, relations, equivalence relations, partitions, functions, matrix multiplication, etc.

You will also need creativity, imagination, and a good work ethic.

Text: Graphs and Digraphs , by G. Chartrand, L. Lesniak, and P. Zhang (Fifth edition)
(ISBN 978-1-4398-2627-0)

Course web page: www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/Math591
Course Calendar: www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/Math591/calendar2012.html

Graph theory deals with the mathematical properties of structures formed by nodes and interconnecting lines. Although its origins are in recreational mathematics, it has important applications to computer science, cryptography, chemistry, biomathematics, game theory, signal processing and electrical engineering. Despite such "serious'' applications, it remains the least technical and most fun branch of mathematics.

This course is an introduction to graph theory at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level. A graduate student who completes this course should be ready to do thesis work in graph theory. The course is team-taught by VCU professors who are actively involved in graph theory research. Following is a list of professors. Click on the links to obtain office hours and contact information.

Each professor teaches three to four weeks, covering one or two chapters. Weekly reading assignments from these chapters are given. You should read the material before we discuss it in class, and again after we discuss it. Your grade is determined by homework assignments, a midterm, and a final exam. Details follow.

Homework: Each professor will assign, collect, and grade homework problems related to the material covered. Homework will be collected each Tuesday, unless noted otherwise. You may discuss assigned problems with classmates, but the work you turn in should be yours, and yours alone. Submission of copied work, in whole or in part, from any source (including the Internet) is considered an honor offense.

Midterm: There will be one closed-book midterm test on October 23. More information will be given in the weeks prior to the test.

Final Exam: The final exam covers only the material presented after the midterm. Details T.B.A.

Last day to withdraw: Friday, November 2

Accommodations: Any student eligible for and needing academic adjustments or accommodations because of a disability should contact an instructor within the first week of class. The VCU Disability Support Services web site is  http://www.students.vcu.edu/dss/.

VCU Honor System:  All VCU students are presumed upon enrollment to have acquainted themselves with and have an understanding of the Honor System. Therefore, it is a student's responsibility to ask course instructors to clarify expectations for each assignment in order to be in compliance with the Honor System. The 2007 - 8 VCU Honor System policy statement and purpose is located at http://www.provost.vcu.edu/pdfs/Honor_system_policy.pdf

Classroom Conduct: Professional conduct will be expected at ALL TIMES and disruptive talking or behavior will NOT be allowed.  A description of the VCU Student Conduct in Instructional Settings Policy can be found at: http://www.ts.vcu.edu/policies/studentconduct.htm