Dr David Bedford

Title: Third Year Tutor in Mathematics
Phone: 01782 733468
Email:
Location: MacKay Building Room 2.34
Role:
Contacting me:

My first degree was in Mathematics and Economics from Surrey University. I then gained an MA in Economics from Essex University before coming to my senses and studying for a PhD in Mathematics back at Surrey. My research centred on using algebraic structures, such as groups, loops and neofields, to construct Latin squares with properties useful in the construction of experimental designs, error-correcting codes and cryptography (but don't tell anyone). Two years into my PhD I took up a lectureship in Statistics and Operational Research at Essex University but my real interest was always in pure mathematics and I came to Keele, following the retirement of Hans Liebeck, as a lecturer in Pure Mathematics in 1992. Since then I have continued my research and am interested in almost any area of mathematics that does not involve differential equations. 

Much of my recent work has been in the area of Mathematics Education. I am an Associate of the Further Maths Support Programme and manage the Keele Further Maths Centre; this involves teaching A-Level Further Mathematics to Sixth Form students from local schools and colleges. I am an examiner and coursework moderator for OCR. 

I am involved in a variety of outreach activities designed to enrich student learning and hopefully inspire students to study mathematics further. These range from Royal Institution masterclasses for Year 8 pupils all the way up to talks for A-Level students. 

Most of all I am interested in ideas in mathematics; if you come across anything which you think I may find interesting then please share it with me.

My main area of research is in the application of algebraic structures, such as groups, quasigroups and neofields, to the construction of combinatorial designs in general and Latin squares in particular. Latin squares play a central role in many areas of combinatorics, and several interesting accounts exist on the web. Kathy Heinrich from Simon Fraser University has written an article on Partying with a Latin Square, a more extensive introduction to the subject may be found at cut-the-knot.

Selected Publications

  • Woodall DR, Bedford D, Camina AR, Edwards KJ, Griggs TS, Thomason AG. 2003. The 18th British Combinatorial Conference - Preface. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, vol. 266(1-3), 1-2. link> doi>
  • Bedford D, Johnson M, Ollis MA. 2003. Defining sets for Latin squares given that they are based on groups. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMBINATORICS, vol. 24(1), 129-135. link> doi>
  • Bedford D and Whitaker RM. 2001. A new construction for efficient semi-Latin squares. JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL PLANNING AND INFERENCE, vol. 98(1-2), 287-292. link> doi>
  • Bedford D and Whitaker RM. 2001. Bounds on the maximum number of Latin squares in a mutually quasi-orthogonal set. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (vol. 231, pp. 89-96). link> doi>
  • Bedford D, Ollis MA, Whitaker RM. 2001. On bipartite tournaments balanced with respect to carry-over effects for both teams. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (vol. 231, pp. 81-87). link> doi>

Full Publications List show

Journal Articles

  • Woodall DR, Bedford D, Camina AR, Edwards KJ, Griggs TS, Thomason AG. 2003. The 18th British Combinatorial Conference - Preface. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, vol. 266(1-3), 1-2. link> doi>
  • Bedford D, Johnson M, Ollis MA. 2003. Defining sets for Latin squares given that they are based on groups. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMBINATORICS, vol. 24(1), 129-135. link> doi>
  • Bedford D and Whitaker RM. 2001. A new construction for efficient semi-Latin squares. JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL PLANNING AND INFERENCE, vol. 98(1-2), 287-292. link> doi>
  • Bedford D and Whitehouse D. 2000. Products of uniquely completable partial latin squares. UTILITAS MATHEMATICA, vol. 58, 195-201. link>
  • Bedford D and Johnson M. 2000. Weak uniquely completable sets for finite groups. BULLETIN OF THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, vol. 32, 155-162. link> doi>
  • Bedford D and Whitaker RM. 2000. New and old values for maximal MOLS(n). ARS COMBINATORIA, vol. 54, 255-258. link>
  • Bedford D and Whitaker RM. 1999. Enumeration of transversals in the Cayley tables of the non-cyclic groups of order 8. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, vol. 197(1-3), 77-81. link>
  • BEDFORD D. 1993. CONSTRUCTION OF ORTHOGONAL LATIN SQUARES USING LEFT NEOFIELDS. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, vol. 115(1-3), 17-38. link> doi>

Other

  • Bedford D and Whitaker RM. 2001. Bounds on the maximum number of Latin squares in a mutually quasi-orthogonal set. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (vol. 231, pp. 89-96). link> doi>
  • Bedford D, Ollis MA, Whitaker RM. 2001. On bipartite tournaments balanced with respect to carry-over effects for both teams. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (vol. 231, pp. 81-87). link> doi>

MAT-10039: Calculus I
MAT-30001: Graph Theory
MAT-30013: Group Theory