Lectures in Geometric Combinatorics (Student Mathematical Library, V. 33.) (Student Mathematical Library)

For advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students, this volume covers the geometry of convex polytopes in arbitrary dimension. It contains lectures from the advanced undergraduate course in geometric combinatorics given at the Park City Mathematics Institute in July of 2004. The lectures aimed "to develop the theory of convex polytopes from a geometric viewpoint to lead up to recent developments centered around secondary and state polytopes arising from point configurations." The chapters also deal with the basics of polytope theory, Schlegel and Gale diagrams, the theory of Gröbner bases, toric ideals, triangulations, and polynomial rings. A background in basic linear algebra is required. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)