Abstract. Generic programming aims to increase the flexibility of programming languages, by expanding the possibilities for parametrization — ideally, without also expanding the possibilities for uncaught errors. The term means different things to different people: parametric polymorphism, data abstraction, meta-programming, and so on. We use it to mean polytypism, that is, parametrization by the shape of data structures rather than their contents. To avoid confusion with other uses, we have coined the qualified term datatype-generic programming for this purpose. In these lecture notes, we expand on the definition of datatype-generic programming, and present some examples of datatypegeneric programs. We also explore the connection with design patterns in object-oriented programming; in particular, we argue that certain design patterns are just higher-order datatype-generic programs. 1

Abstract. We present an extensive survey of bijective proofs of classical partitions identities. While most bijections are known, they are often presented in a different, sometimes unrecognizable way. Various extensions and generalizations are added in the form of exercises.

Abstract. This is a foundational paper in tropical linear algebra, which is linear algebra over the min-plus semiring. We introduce and compare three natural definitions of the rank of a matrix, called the Barvinok rank, the Kapranov rank and the tropical rank. We demonstrate how these notions arise naturally in polyhedral and algebraic geometry, and we show that they differ in general. Realizability of matroids plays a crucial role here. Connections to optimization are also discussed. 1.

In a proof-of-retrievability system, a data storage center must prove to a verifier that he is actually storing all of a client’s data. The central challenge is to build systems that are both efficient and provably secure — that is, it should be possible to extract the client’s data from any prover that passes a verification check. All previous provably secure solutions require that a prover send O(l) authenticator values (i.e., MACs or signatures) to verify a file, for a total of O(l 2) bits of communication, where l is the security parameter. The extra cost over the ideal O(l) communication can be prohibitive in systems where a verifier needs to check many files. We create the first compact and provably secure proof of retrievability systems. Our solutions allow for compact proofs with just one authenticator value — in practice this can lead to proofs with as little as 40 bytes of communication. We present two solutions with similar structure. The first one is privately verifiable and builds elegantly on pseudorandom functions (PRFs); the second allows for publicly verifiable proofs and is built from the signature scheme of Boneh, Lynn, and Shacham in bilinear groups. Both solutions rely on homomorphic properties to aggregate a proof into one small authenticator value. 1

5.3 Divisible designs vs. finite chain geometries........... 64

Design patterns are reusable abstractions in object-oriented software. However, using current programming languages, these elements can only be expressed extra-linguistically: as prose, pictures, and prototypes. We believe that this is not inherent in the patterns themselves, but evidence of a lack of expressivity in the languages of today. We expect that, in the languages of the future, design patterns will be expressible as reusable library code. Indeed, we claim that the languages of tomorrow will suffice; the future is not far away. The necessary features are higher-order and datatypegeneric constructs; these features are already or nearly available now. We argue the case by presenting higher-order datatypegeneric programs capturing ORIGAMI, a small pattern language of recursive data structures.

Tree decompositions of graphs are of fundamental importance in structural and algorithmic graph theory. Planar decompositions generalise tree decompositions by allowing an arbitrary planar graph to index the decomposition. We prove that every graph that excludes a fixed graph as a minor has a planar decomposition with bounded width and a linear number of bags. The crossing number of a graph is the minimum number of crossings in a drawing of the graph in the plane. We prove that planar decompositions are intimately related to the crossing number. In particular, a graph with bounded degree has linear crossing number if and only if it has a planar decomposition with bounded width and linear order. It follows from the above result about planar decompositions that every graph with bounded degree and an excluded minor has linear crossing number. Analogous results are proved for the convex and rectilinear crossing numbers. In particular, every graph with bounded degree and bounded tree-width has linear convex crossing number, and every K3,3-minor-free graph with bounded degree has linear rectilinear crossing number.

In 1970, E. M. Andreev published a classification of all three-dimensional compact hyperbolic polyhedra having non-obtuse dihedral angles [3, 4]. Given a combinatorial description of a polyhedron, C, Andreev’s Theorem provides five classes of linear inequalities, depending on C, for the dihedral angles, which are necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a hyperbolic polyhedron realizing C with the assigned dihedral angles. Andreev’s Theorem also shows that the resulting polyhedron is unique, up to hyperbolic isometry. Andreev’s Theorem is both an interesting statement about the geometry of hyperbolic 3-dimensional space, as well as a fundamental tool used in the proof for Thurston’s Hyperbolization Theorem for 3-dimensional Haken manifolds. It is also remarkable to what level the proof of Andreev’s Theorem resembles (in a simpler way) the proof of Thurston. We correct a fundamental error in Andreev’s proof of existence and also provide a readable new proof of the other parts of the proof of Andreev’s Theorem, because

In this article, Temperley’s bijection between spanning trees of the square grid on the one hand, and perfect matchings (also known as dimer coverings) of the square grid on the other, is extended to the setting of general planar directed (and undirected) graphs, where edges carry nonnegative weights that induce a weighting on the set of spanning trees. We show that the weighted, directed spanning trees (often called arborescences) of any planar graph G can be put into a one-to-one weight-preserving correspondence with the perfect matchings of a related planar graph H. One special case of this result is a bijection between perfect matchings of the hexagonal honeycomb lattice and directed spanning trees of a triangular lattice. Another special case gives a correspondence between perfect matchings of the “square-octagon” lattice and directed weighted spanning trees on a directed weighted version of the cartesian lattice. In conjunction with results of Kenyon (1997b), our main theorem allows us to compute the measures of all cylinder events for random spanning trees on any (directed, weighted) planar graph. Conversely, in cases where the perfect matching model arises from a tree model, Wilson’s algorithm allows us to quickly generate random samples of perfect matchings.

Given a set of points in R 2 or R 3, we aim to color them such that every region of a certain family (for instance disks) containing at least a certain number of points contains points of many different colors. Using k colors, it is not always possible to ensure that every region containing k points contains all k colors. Thus, we introduce two relaxations: either we allow the number of colors to increase to c(k), or we require that the number of points in each region increases to p(k). We give upper bounds on c(k) and p(k) for halfspaces, disks, and pseudodisks. We also consider the dual question, where we want to color regions instead of points. This is related to previous results of Pach, Tardos and Tóth on decompositions of coverings.