<p>A course I'm currently taking from Bill Gasarch is called: Ramsey Theory and Its 'Applications' -- the quotes are in the official course title. Interpret that as you wish. >_></p>

<p>Here is a link to the course website (with lecture notes): <a href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/858/S13/S13.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/858/S13/S13.html</a></p>

<p>Here is a link to Bill's "Apps of Ramsey Theory" page: <a href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/ramsey/ramsey.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/ramsey/ramsey.html</a></p>

<p>The latter link is very likely the most complete collection of information for the question you're asking.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-10T06:28:00.123Z
Daniel, would you mind moving this answer to the other  question?
Kaveh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-11T03:11:13.413Z
Sure -- And in fact, checking the other question, there's already a link to the Apps of Ramsey Theory page. I'll add the course link to it.
Daniel Apon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-09T22:29:54.313Z
2013-02-09T22:29:54.313Z
Daniel Apon
<p>The classical problem in Ramsey theory is the party problem, which asks the minimum number of guests  that must be invited so that at least <code>m</code> will know each other (i.e., there exists a clique of order <code>m</code>) or at least <code>n</code> will not know each other (i.e., there exists an independent set of order <code>n</code>). Here, <code>R(m,n)</code> is called a Ramsey number.</p>

<p>See on <a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RamseyTheory.html" rel="nofollow">Wolfram MathWorld</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theorem_on_friends_and_strangers" rel="nofollow">wikipedia</a>.</p>

<p>There seems to be a slew of research in the field. What are some real world applications? For example, I read in one place that circuit/network routing would be a good one. But how why is that? Does anyone know of any other real world applications?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-10T07:01:47.060Z
ps: reminder that cstheory is a Q&A site for *research-level* questions in *theoretical computer science* (TCS). Please see the [FAQ] for more information on what is meant by this.
Kaveh
<graph-theory>
Real world applications of Ramsey Theory concerning friends and strangers
Konsol Labapen
# Real world applications of Ramsey Theory concerning friends and strangers

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-02-09)

The classical problem in Ramsey theory is the party problem, which asks the minimum number of guests that must be invited so that at least `m` will know each other (i.e., there exists a clique of order `m`) or at least `n` will not know each other (i.e., there exists an independent set of order `n`). Here, `R(m,n)` is called a Ramsey number.

See on [Wolfram MathWorld](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RamseyTheory.html) or [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theorem_on_friends_and_strangers).

There seems to be a slew of research in the field. What are some real world applications? For example, I read in one place that circuit/network routing would be a good one. But how why is that? Does anyone know of any other real world applications?

**Tags:** graph-theory

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: ps: reminder that cstheory is a Q&A site for *research-level* questions in *theoretical computer science* (TCS). Please see the [FAQ] for more information on what is meant by this.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-02-09. Score: 2

A course I'm currently taking from Bill Gasarch is called: Ramsey Theory and Its 'Applications' -- the quotes are in the official course title. Interpret that as you wish. >\_>

Here is a link to the course website (with lecture notes): <http://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/858/S13/S13.html>

Here is a link to Bill's "Apps of Ramsey Theory" page: <http://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/ramsey/ramsey.html>

The latter link is very likely the most complete collection of information for the question you're asking.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Daniel, would you mind moving this answer to the other  question?  
> **username_2**: Sure -- And in fact, checking the other question, there's already a link to the Apps of Ramsey Theory page. I'll add the course link to it.  

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