Handouts and Notes:

• Requirements

• We will cover all of Sipser, with some supplementary material added.

• Information about readings and topics to be coverered and other handouts will be posted on the syllabus. Homework and reading quizzes, and answers to the homeworks will be posted on moodle.

• If some of the symbols that I have been using seem Greek to you, here is a Symbol Table to help you remember what they mean.

What is this course about? This course presents an in-depth introduction to the main models and concepts of the mathematical theory of computation, including: Computability, Complexity, and Logic. I will emphasize the ability to go from a concrete problem to a mathematical model; and, after proving things about the mathematical model, to correctly interpret what we have learned about the concrete problem. For example, we will learn how to tell whether a problem we need to solve is NP complete, or even undecidable, and if so, what to do about it.

Required Textbook: Introduction to the Theory of Computation, 3rd Edition by Michael Sipser, (2012), Cengage Learning, ISBN-10: 1-133-18779-X

Meeting times: M,W 10:35 -- 11:50, CMPS 140. First meeting Wed., Jan. 23, 2013.

Prerequisites: Mathematical maturity at the level of CS 250 is a minimal requirement. One nice book that helps with mathematical background is, How to Prove It by Daniel Velleman.

Most students will have had an undergraduate course in Automata and Formal Languages such as Comp Sci 401. For students who don't know this material, it would be helpful to get the text in advance and read Chapters 0 and 1 which we will cover quickly, i.e., in the first lecture.

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Here is a diagram of the world of computability and complexity: