GillHomePage

Encouraging truck - rough roads ahead!

S. Gill Williamson, Professor Emeritus

Research Area: Algorithmic Combinatorics

gill.williamson AT gmail.com or gill AT cs.ucsd.edu

Discrete Math (Lower Division);

Topics:

Linear Algebra(Upper Division);

Astronomy/Botany trip in Kofa

	Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve;

			Bender-Williamson Online Lecture Series: a free, downloadable two quarter or two semester course in discrete mathematics (pdf files). This material was taught by the authors and other faculty to lower division students in mathematics and computer science at the University of California, San Diego. All exercises and many variations of them have been worked on homework and exams by our students.
	Discrete Math Courses

			Foundations of Combinatorics with Applications: This upper division or beginning graduate course in combinatorics is broken down into basic units in order to make it more flexible as a supplementary text or reference. Numerous exercises with a solutions manual are provided. All files are free, downloadable pdf files. A link to the Dover edition that contains all of this material is provided.
	Foundations Combinatorics

			A Comprehensive Introduction to Linear Algebra, Broida and Williamson, Addison Wesley 1989, is a book written for upper division undergraduates in mathematics and related fields. We have taken the original MS Word legacy pdf chapter files and converted them to Adobe Acrobat pdf files optimized for web viewing and downloading. This material has been designated Creative Commons (CC0,1.0) to allow flexibility of use, including conversion to modern mathematical typesetting standards (e.g., LaTeX) by anyone interested in doing so.
	Linear Algebra PDF Files

			Top-down Calculus - a concise course: This one-quarter or one-semester calculus course was designed as a part of a UCSD summer program to give high school math teachers extra training in calculus. Key ideas are developed and put to use quickly (e.g., the chain-rule on page 11). This text has been used successfully for UCSD summer school students. All material is free, downlable pdf files.
	Top-down Calculus

			Combinatorics for Computer Science by S. Gill Williamson (Computer Science Press, 1985): This beginning graduate level course in algorithmic combinatorics focuses on the use of geometric and algebraic structures to compare and classify combinatorial algorithms. The geometric concepts, in particular, are useful in both complexity analysis and practical programming. Topics are in chapter units that are downloadable pdf files. Choose those that relate to your interests.
	Algorithmic Combinatorics

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			Lattice multiverses and landscapes: Concepts such as the multiverse in cosmology and the landscape in string theory present new mathematical challenges. Will some of these challenges be too difficult for mathematical physics? To get some insight into this question, we construct lattice models of these more complex constructs. We show that these toy versions of the landscape or multiverse give rise to natural conjectures that either (1) have no known proofs other than by using ZFC-independent axioms or (2) are themselves provably ZFC-undecidable. The mathematics of physics as now constructed lies entirely within the ZFC axiomatic system.
	Cosmology: Multiverses

			"Synthetic intelligence" in our discussion refers to civilizations of highly intelligent robots that are artifacts of biologically evolved technological civilizations. I have written some fiction: The Avatars Remember Nothing (short story) and The Observers (short novel) on this subject. Vernor Vinge comments, "S.Gill Williamson's story The Observers is a radical but plausible take on what advanced extra-terrestrail intelligence might really look like. Hint: They're not your grandmother's little green men." -- Vernor Vinge, computer scientist, futurist and science fiction author. For a discussion of synthetic intelligence as it relates to SETI see the referenced articles by Seth Shostak.
	SETI: Synthetic Intelligence

			Geology Formations Present or Missing: Free field-guide pdf charts with hyperlinks to geological information are given for selected state and national parks. Geological time intervals in the earth's history where park formations are present are indicated by red hyperlinks (e.g., Eocene). These links are to specfic park-related information when possible. Time intervals where formations are missing are indicated by black hyperlinks (e.g., Miocene) to Palaeos, USGS, Wikipedia, etc.
	Geology Present or Missing

			Online Anza-Borrego geology overview: We give an online overview of the geology of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. A reference grid for ABDSP has been added to the SIO Earthguide Map of the San Diego region. This reference grid is also shown over a map of ABDSP which indicates roads and access points for viewing the various geological formations. A field-guide pdf summary chart is provided.
	Geology of Anza-Borrego

			An overview of the geology of the state of Oregon: This online overview of the geology of the State of Oregon was prepared for a 2009 road trip through western Oregon with a group of friends. USGS Map i 595 (1969) was downloaded and a rough map of the roads and towns of Oregon was drawn over the geology map. The relevant legends for geology were added. A field-guide pdf chart is provided.
	Geology of Oregon

			Anacardiaceae - Sumac Plant Family: As a docent volunteer at our local park, Torrey Pines SNR, I am charged with explaining the park's natural history. I have prepared this brief training site to introduce visitors to the most evident botanical traits of the Sumac family genera in our area. A compact pocket field guide can be printed out. At a minimum, you should learn how to avoid poison oak!
	Sumac plant family

			Research: A sample of my research interests is here. Items 1, 2, 4 and 6 involve group theory and combinatorics. Items 5, 8, 14 and 15 concern efficient listing algorithms. Item 10 is asymptotic analysis. Items 12 and 13 concern sorting networks. Recent research (click here) concerns ranking and random generation of combinatorial objects. Math geneaology is here. Education: Santa Barbara High School 1953-56; Caltech 1956-60, BS Math; Stanford 1960-62, MS Statistics; Univ. Calif. Santa Barbara 1962-65, Ph.D. Mathematics. Professional: UCSD, Professor of Mathematics 1965-91; UCSD, Professor Computer Science and Engineering 1991-2004 (retired).
	Bibliography

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	Torrey Pines Bodysurfing Paradise
			TORREY PINES STATE NATURAL PRESERVE