This collection of tutorial and research papers introduces readers to diverse areas of modern pure and applied algebraic combinatorics and finite geometries. There is special emphasis on algorithmic aspects and the use of the theory of Gröbner bases.

This book consists of a selection of peer-reviewed contributions to the Workshop on Algebraic Graph Theory that took place in Pilsen, Czech Republic in October 2016. Primarily intended for early career researchers, it presents eight self-contained articles on a selection of topics within algebraic combinatorics, ranging from association schemes to symmetries of graphs and isomorphism testing. Algebraic combinatorics is a compelling mathematical discipline based on the powerful interplay of algebraic and combinatorial methods. Algebraic interpretation of combinatorial structures (such as symmetry or regularity) has often led to enlightening discoveries and powerful results, while discrete and combinatorial structures have given rise to new algebraic structures that have found valuable applications. In addition to these original research contributions, the reader will find a survey linking numerous threads in algebraic combinatorics, and an extensive tutorial showcasing the universality of algebraic methods in the study of combinatorial structures.

The idea of the Gröbner basis first appeared in a 1927 paper by F. S. Macaulay, who succeeded in creating a combinatorial characterization of the Hilbert functions of homogeneous ideals of the polynomial ring. Later, the modern definition of the Gröbner basis was independently introduced by Heisuke Hironaka in 1964 and Bruno Buchberger in 1965. However, after the discovery of the notion of the Gröbner basis by Hironaka and Buchberger, it was not actively pursued for 20 years. A breakthrough was made in the mid-1980s by David Bayer and Michael Stillman, who created the Macaulay computer algebra system with the help of the Gröbner basis. Since then, rapid development on the Gröbner basis has been achieved by many researchers, including Bernd Sturmfels. This book serves as a standard bible of the Gröbner basis, for which the harmony of theory, application, and computation are indispensable. It provides all the fundamentals for graduate students to learn the ABC’s of the Gröbner basis, requiring no special knowledge to understand those basic points. Starting from the introductory performance of the Gröbner basis (Chapter 1), a trip around mathematical software follows (Chapter 2). Then comes a deep discussion of how to compute the Gröbner basis (Chapter 3). These three chapters may be regarded as the first act of a mathematical play. The second act opens with topics on algebraic statistics (Chapter 4), a fascinating research area where the Gröbner basis of a toric ideal is a fundamental tool of the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. Moreover, the Gröbner basis of a toric ideal has had a great influence on the study of convex polytopes (Chapter 5). In addition, the Gröbner basis of the ring of differential operators gives effective algorithms on holonomic functions (Chapter 6). The third act (Chapter 7) is a collection of concrete examples and problems for Chapters 4, 5 and 6 emphasizing computation by using various software systems.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 16th International Workshop on Computer Algebra in Scientific Computing, CASC 2014, held in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2014. The 33 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in this book. The papers address issues such as Studies in polynomial algebra are represented by contributions devoted to factoring sparse bivariate polynomials using the priority queue, the construction of irreducible polynomials by using the Newton index, real polynomial root finding by means of matrix and polynomial iterations, application of the eigenvalue method with symmetry for solving polynomial systems arising in the vibration analysis of mechanical structures with symmetry properties, application of Gröbner systems for computing the (absolute) reduction number of polynomial ideals, the application of cylindrical algebraic decomposition for solving the quantifier elimination problems, certification of approximate roots of overdetermined and singular polynomial systems via the recovery of an exact rational univariate representation from approximate numerical data, new parallel algorithms for operations on univariate polynomials (multi-point evaluation, interpolation) based on subproduct tree techniques.

This book provides an introduction to quasigroup theory along with new structural results on some of the quasigroup classes. Many results are presented with some of them from mathematicians of the former USSR. These included results have not been published before in the western mathematical literature. In addition, many of the achievements obtained with regard to applications of quasigroups in coding theory and cryptology are described.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Algebraic Informatics, CAI 2011, held in Linz, Austria, in June 2011. The 12 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited articles were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers cover topics such as algebraic semantics on graph and trees, formal power series, syntactic objects, algebraic picture processing, finite and infinite computations, acceptors and transducers for strings, trees, graphs arrays, etc. decision problems, algebraic characterization of logical theories, process algebra, algebraic algorithms, algebraic coding theory, and algebraic aspects of cryptography.

This volume presents articles based on the talks at the International Conference on Combinatorial and Computational Algebra held at the University of Hong Kong (China). The conference was part of the Algebra Program at the Institute of Mathematical Research and the Mathematics Department at the University of Hong Kong. Topics include recent developments in the following areas: combinatorial and computational aspects of group theory, combinatorial and computational aspects of associative and nonassociative algebras, automorphisms of polynomial algebras and the Jacobian conjecture, and combinatorics and coding theory. This volume can serve as a solid introductory guide for advanced graduate students, as well as a rich and up-to-date reference source for contemporary researchers in the field.

This book is about the interplay of computational commutative algebra and the theory of convex polytopes. It centres around a special class of ideals in a polynomial ring: the class of toric ideals. They are characterized as those prime ideals that are generated by monomial differences or as the defining ideals of toric varieties (not necessarily normal). The interdisciplinary nature of the study of Gröbner bases is reflected by the specific applications appearing in this book. These applications lie in the domains of integer programming and computational statistics. The mathematical tools presented in the volume are drawn from commutative algebra, combinatorics, and polyhedral geometry.

The book is about (associative, Lie and other) algebras, groups, semigroups presented by generators and defining relations. They play a great role in modern mathematics. It is enough to mention the quantum groups and Hopf algebra theory, the Kac-Moody and Borcherds algebra theory, the braid groups and Hecke algebra theory, the Coxeter groups and semisimple Lie algebra theory, the plactic monoid theory. One of the main problems for such presentations is the problem of normal forms of their elements. Classical examples of such normal forms give the Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt theorem for universal enveloping algebras and Artin-Markov normal form theorem for braid groups in Burau generators.What is now called Gröbner-Shirshov bases theory is a general approach to the problem. It was created by a Russian mathematician A I Shirshov (1921-1981) for Lie algebras (explicitly) and associative algebras (implicitly) in 1962. A few years later, H Hironaka created a theory of standard bases for topological commutative algebra and B Buchberger initiated this kind of theory for commutative algebras, the Gröbner basis theory. The Shirshov paper was largely unknown outside Russia. The book covers this gap in the modern mathematical literature. Now Gröbner-Shirshov bases method has many applications both for classical algebraic structures (associative, Lie algebra, groups, semigroups) and new structures (dialgebra, pre-Lie algebra, Rota-Baxter algebra, operads). This is a general and powerful method in algebra.