One of your responsibilities as a professional computer scientist or teacher will be to read mathematical papers connected to problems you're trying to solve.  This assignment is to give you some practice in reading and understanding a paper and explaining it to others.

Your job, then, is to find a journal article that explores an application of graph theory or a topic we did
not cover in class.  Read that paper, and then write a summary of it, explaining the main ideas and the important theorems
and proofs in your own words.

Some good starting places for finding a topic would be to look at the references at the end of each chapter in the text.  You may also write on one of the sections that we did not cover in class (matchings for example), but
you should plan on reading some more advanced (less friendly) treatments of the subject.  You should be sure to check with me that you have picked an appropriate paper.

Your paper should be about 5-10 pages long. It should be written for an audience of your peers, that is, students who are taking or have taken MCS-236.  Each paper should treat a mathematical idea of substance; most papers should explain at least
one proof. It should be typed, but you may include handwritten formulas and hand-drawn diagrams.

A guide to documenting your sources is located here.
Schedule

April 30:  Paper topics due.  Stop by and see me.  Bring a copy of the paper for me to keep and read.
May 10:  First drafts due.  This means a real first draft, not a rough draft. 
May 17: Final drafts due. 

Grading Criteria

An A paper is well-written, contains few, if any, grammar, spelling, or proofreading mistakes and absolutely no mathematical mistakes.  More importantly, it clearly explains the topic in a focused and organized way.  It accurately summarizes the mathematics in the sources, contains at least one proof written in the author's own words, and fills in the details that the original paper left out.  The writing is lively and interesting, and demonstrates that the author  understood the material by reading and synthesizing more than one mathematical source.  The author picked a topic which was challenging to understand.

A B paper is well-written, although there may be some mechanical mistakes or some places where the writing is a bit awkward.  While there are no mathematical mistakes, there may be places where the mathematics is stated poorly or in a way that is either confusing or not clear.  The paper accurately summarizes the mathematics in the original source, contains at least one proof, written in the author's own words, and fills in most of the details that the original paper left out.  The writing is fairly easy to read, but indicates that the author did not take the time to make sure that he had a deep understanding of the topic.

A C paper  is one where the author didn't quite understand the original source, made several mathematical errors, or could not describe the mathematics very clearly.  The author may have had trouble understanding the original mathematics and certainly had trouble explaining it in his own words to an audience of peers.  While the writing is understandable, there may be problems with organization or in writing clearly.  A C paper may be pretty well-written, but has too many grammar, spelling, punctuation, or other mechanical mistakes.  The topic of the paper may be one which is too simple for a level two course.

A D paper is one where  the author more or less skimmed through the original paper without getting a clear understanding of what it is about.  The writing could be very disorganized,  with lots of mechanical mistakes and several mathematical mistakes.  The original paper could be one which is inappropriate for this assignment and the author did not bother to check with me first.

An F paper is rare.  Usually, people who get a F on this assignment have problems with plagiarism or excessive lateness.    However, exceptional failure to comply with the terms of an assignment may also result in an F.