| PDF download | HTML version |
Both versions of the notes contain links to various interactive demonstrations (described below) and videos.
The HTML version is relatively new. It should be better than the PDF for viewing on a phone, or for reading with a screen reader. I would welcome any comments on either of these use cases.
I strongly recommend that you should attend lectures in person if possible. If you cannot do that, I recommend that you work from the notes and embedded videos and demonstrations. There is also a lecture progress page where you can see which sections of the notes have been covered in lectures.
Most of the ideas in this course can be implemented by computers. Students who are interested in such things can find code (in HTML+Javascript) for the interactive demonstrations in the combinatorics diagrams repository on GitHub. If you prefer Python, you can find some equivalent Python code in the combinatorics Python repository. I will probably translate more of the Javascript code to Python as the semester progresses. All of this is purely optional; I will say almost nothing about it in lectures, and it will not be examined.
The situation with AI tools (such as
Google Bard,
ChatGPT,
GitHub copilot
and so on) is quite new and changing very rapidly. For this module,
formal assessment is based solely on the final exam, for which you
will of course not have access to any such tools. You are welcome
to use AI throughout the semester if you think that it will help you
to develop your understanding. I would be interested to hear about
your experiences with that. If you use AI while doing the homework
questions that you hand in, please mention that on your homework.
My assessment in September 2023 is as follows. If you ask ChatGPT4
(which is not free) to do the homework problems, it will typically
give an answer that contains some good ideas and correct ingredients,
but also contains a number of errors. Google Bard and the free
version of ChatGPT are currently much less capable and often produce
complete nonsense.
The format of the exam and the arrangements for taking it will
be as in 2022-23. You can find the 2022-23 exam and solutions
below. There will be about 10 questions of varying lengths, all
compulsory. Some questions will ask you to state definitions
or results from the notes, or reproduce proofs from the notes.
However, most questions will instead ask you to solve problems,
which will often require some creative modification of the
methods explained in the notes.
There is a document listing which definitions, results and proofs
you might need to reproduce in the exam:
| Examinable material: | Short version | Long version |
| 2023-24 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2022-23 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2021-22 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2020-21 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2019-20 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2018-19 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2017-18 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2016-17 | Exam | Solutions |
| 2015-16 | Exam | Solutions |