Re^2: Unique Combos with Math::Combinatorics

ambrus:

Could you elaborate a little on what you're talking about? I did a google search on "affine GF(n)" but found sites wanting me to log in, abstracts of papers I most likely wouldn't understand, or articles that went whizzing above my head.

And then I remembered mathworld! Here are a couple of links for people like me who might want to figure out a little bit of what ambrus is talking about:

Affine Plane

Finite Field (which discusses Galois field, which they abbreviate as GF(n)).

...roboticus

Update: Fixed links, as suggested by ikegami and pKai

Comment on Re^2: Unique Combos with Math::Combinatorics

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Re^3: Unique Combos with Math::Combinatorics by ambrus (Abbot) on Mar 02, 2008 at 12:25 UTC
Yep, I'm too lazy to explain finite fields and finite geometry now. Two books come into my mind that explain finite geometry – both are suitable for beginners as they don't have much prerequisites: Hraskó András (editor), Új matematikai mozaik. TypeTEX Kiadó, Budapest, 2002. Reiman István, A geometria határterületei. Gondolat, Budapest, 1986. I won't recommend any books on finite fields for there are plenty of those and this application really only needs the basics. I also forgot to link to the homepage of the J programming language.	[reply]
Re^4: Unique Combos with Math::Combinatorics by roboticus (Chancellor) on Mar 02, 2008 at 12:37 UTC
ambrus: Oh, I didn't expect an explanation. But the field is so foreign to me, that it was kind of like: "Oh, you have this hard problem? Just use Kenlar Blurfle, and you'll see that the obvious answer is 42". A line or two of context would've been helpful. ;^D Of course, then I wouldn't have had the fun of exploring mathworld a bit. Two books come into my mind that explain finite geometry - both are suitable for beginners as they don't have much prerequisites: HraskÃ³ AndrÃ¡s (editor), Ãšj matematikai mozaik. TypeTEX KiadÃ³, Budapest, 2002. Reiman IstvÃ¡n, A geometria hatÃ¡rterÃ¼letei Great <sigh> now I'll have to add "Learn Hungarian" to my long list of ToDos, so I can read them! ;^) ...roboticus	[reply]