ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Combinatorial map

Okay kiddo, imagine you have a big map of a city with lots of different buildings and streets. A combinatorial map is a special type of map that helps us understand how all of the different parts of the city fit together.

It works by breaking down the city into smaller pieces, kind of like a puzzle. Each piece represents a certain area of the city, like a neighborhood or a park. These pieces are connected to each other by lines, which represent the streets or paths that connect them.

But it's not just about the shape of the pieces and the lines - a combinatorial map also tells us about how they're arranged. For example, two pieces might share a border, which means they're right next to each other.

It might sound complicated, but combinatorial maps are really useful for lots of things, like planning transportation routes or figuring out where to put new buildings. And who knows, maybe one day you'll become a city planner and get to use them yourself!