The Four-Color Theorem
by Robin Thomas
Georgia Institute of Technology
ABSTRACT
The Four-Color Problem was formulated by Francis Guthrie in 1852, and
remained open until 1976, when Appel and Haken gave a proof.
In this talk I will briefly describe the history of the problem and
some equivalent formulations (some of which do not mention graphs at all),
and then will outline a new proof of the Four Color Theorem, obtained in
joint work with Neil Robertson, Daniel P. Sanders and P.D. Seymour.
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