Topics in Algebra

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Taught at a host institution. MATH 20260 The Mathematics of Google at UCD; The Google search engine has made accessing information easy and its speed and efficacy amazes people. This module explains how it works. An essential component is the ability to rank information according to its importance, and in Google, this relies on simple algebraic principles. Some companies hire SEOs (search engine optimizers) to try to gain competitive advantage by raising Google's estimate of their importance and the strategies used to achieve, and also to prevent, this. The mathematical areas involved are linear algebra and elementary probability theory. The presentation will in part be based on the book by Amy Langville and Carl Meyer "Google's PageRank and Beyond: The Science of Search Engine Rankings" (Princeton University Press 2006)