Geometric combinatorics describes a wide area of mathematics that is primarily the study of geometric objects and their combinatorial structure. Perhaps the most familiar examples are polytopes and simplicial complexes, but the subject is much broader. This volume is a compilation of expository articles at the interface between combinatorics and geometry, based on a three-week program of lectures at the Institute for Advanced Study/Park City Math Institute (IAS/PCMI) summer program on Geometric Combinatorics. The topics covered include posets, graphs, hyperplane arrangements, discrete Morse theory, and more. These objects are considered from multiple perspectives, such as in enumerative or topological contexts, or in the presence of discrete or continuous group actions.

Most of the exposition is aimed at graduate students or researchers learning the material for the first time. Many of the articles include substantial numbers of exercises, and all include numerous examples. The reader is led quickly to the state of the art and current active research by worldwide authorities on their respective subjects.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in combinatorics; discrete methods in geometry and topology.