Renowned mathematician to visit VCU

By Brian McNeill

Jack Edmonds, one of the best-known and most widely cited living mathematicians, will visit Virginia Commonwealth University to give a special discrete mathematics seminar.

Edmonds' talk, "The Traveling Salesman Problem and P vs. NP," will be held on Oct. 14 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in room 4145 of Harris Hall.

"Edmonds' visit is a big deal because he is a giant of mathematics, and it is inspiring to be in the presence of genius, and there is always potential to gain new insight, new perspective, and new ideas to pursue," said Craig Larson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics in the College of Humanities and Sciences. "On a personal note, Jack is one of my heroes and many of my interests and attitudes originate with his ideas and work."

Edmonds is credited with initiating the search for polynomial-time combinatorial algorithms, defining the class NP, producing one of the first non-trivial polynomial-time algorithms (for matching in a general graph), and starting the field of polyhedral combinatorics. His papers have been cited more than 7,000 times, and he has three papers with more than 1,000 citations.

He will discuss the Travelling Salesman Problem, which aims to find an optimum way for a stylus or a salesman to move through any prescribed set of points.