Seminar on Error-Correcting Pooling Designs and Related Topics

Beijing Normal University, August 20-22, 2006


       Pooling designs and nonadaptive combinatorial group testing is a young and interesting field with deep connections to coding theory and design theory. D-Z Du pointed out in a survey on combinatorial group testing algorithms with applications to DNA library screening (DIMACS 2000) that the theory of association schemes, in particular distance regular graphs, should play an important role in improving the performance of pooling designs. In this series of lectures, we will first give necessary backgrounds on distance regular graphs and association schemes, followed by various types of pooling designs in the forms of binary matrices and set systems as well including constructions, decoding methodology and associated extremal problem. The possible roles of association schemes played in the study of nonadaptive error-correcting pooling designs will be emphasized.
      The lecturer of this course is Professor Tayuan Huang, Xinzhu Jiaotong University, who is one of the most active experts on this subject.
      The program of the seminar (preliminary) is as follows.

Time

Sunday
20 August

Monday
21 August

Tuesday
22 August
9:00-10:30


I


III


V
10:50-11:20


Problem Session


Problem Session


Problem Session
15:00-15:50


II


IV


TAB
16:00-16:30


Problem Session


Problem Session


Problem Session
*All lectures are given in Math. Build., Room 213.

BNU algebra research group, July 2006