| Title | : | History, significance and equivalent formulations of the Four Color Theorem |
| Speaker | : | Nishad Kothari (IITM) |
| Details | : | Thu, 26 Oct, 2023 2:00 PM @ CS15 |
| Abstract: | : | The Four Color Theorem (4CT) --- which states that every planar map can be colored using 4 colors --- was conjectured by Guthrie in 1853 --- and was proved first in 1976 by Appel and Haken. Of course, in these 123 years, there were multiple failed attempts, and some of these attempts led to new insights, new equivalent formulations of the 4CT, and often to the birth of new research areas/directions (one of which is the study of matchings and perfect matchings). Even today, 4CT continues to inspire new research directions and areas in Graph Theory as well as in the wider field of Combinatorics. In this talk, there will be discussion on the colorful history of the 4CT, its significance and equivalent formulations. Prerequisite are CS1200 (Discrete Math) or MA2130 (Basic Graph Theory), or an equivalent course. |
