The matching problem is one of the central problems in graph theory as well as in the theory of algorithms and their applications. This book will provide the reader with a comprehensive and straightforward introduction to the basic methods of designing efficient parallel algorithms for graph matching problems. The text is written for students at the beginning graduate level. The exposition is mostly self-contained and example-driven. Prerequisites have been kept to a minimum by including relevant background material. The book contains full details of several new techniques and should also be of interest to research workers in computer science, operations research, discrete mathematics, and electrical engineering. The main theoretical tools are combined into three independent chapters, devoted to combinatorial tools, probabilistic tools, and algebraic tools. One of the main goals of the book is to bring together these three approaches and highlight how their combination works in the development of efficient parallel algorithms. The reader will be provided with a simple and transparent presentation of a variety of interesting algorithms, including many examples and illustrations. The combination of different approaches makes the matching problem and its applications an attractive and fascinating subject. It is hoped that the book represents a meeting point of interesting algorithmic techniques and opens up new algebraic and geometric areas. Marek Karpinski is Chair Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bonn. Wojciech Rytter is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Warsaw and at the University of Liverpool.
