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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Construction Algorithms For Expander Graphs, Vlad S. Burca Apr 2014

Construction Algorithms For Expander Graphs, Vlad S. Burca

Senior Theses and Projects

Graphs are mathematical objects that are comprised of nodes and edges that connect them. In computer science they are used to model concepts that exhibit network behaviors, such as social networks, communication paths or computer networks. In practice, it is desired that these graphs retain two main properties: sparseness and high connectivity. This is equivalent to having relatively short distances between two nodes but with an overall small number of edges. These graphs are called expander graphs and the main motivation behind studying them is the efficient network structure that they can produce due to their properties. We are specifically …


Fast Monte Carlo Algorithms For Computing A Low-Rank Approximation To A Matrix, Vlad S. Burca Apr 2014

Fast Monte Carlo Algorithms For Computing A Low-Rank Approximation To A Matrix, Vlad S. Burca

Senior Theses and Projects

Many of today's applications deal with big quantities of data; from DNA analysis algorithms, to image processing and movie recommendation algorithms. Most of these systems store the data in very large matrices. In order to perform analysis on the collected data, these big matrices have to be stored in the RAM (random-access memory) of the computing system. But this is a very expensive process since RAM is a scarce computational resource. Ideally, one would like to be able to store most of the data matrices on the memory disk (hard disk drive) while loading only the necessary parts of the …


The Lamplighter Group, Scott Eckenthal Apr 2012

The Lamplighter Group, Scott Eckenthal

Senior Theses and Projects

The Lamplighter Group is an Algebraic Group whose behavior models the dynamics of a geometric system. In this thesis, a survey paper following a set of notes as written by Professor Jennifer Taback of Bowdoin College, we define this geometric system and the connection to the Lamplighter Group. Several subsequent results are then proven regarding word length of elements in the group and behavior within its Cayley Graph. A preliminary section is included to introduce the reader to several topics including Free Groups, Group Presentation, and the properties of the Cayley Graph.