Reading assignments are from Sipser, An Introduction to the Theory of Computation, third (or second) edition, available through the university's eCampus entity and elsewhere.
Class meetings are MW 5:30-6:45 in room S131 ILC.
The Spring 2021 lectures are asynchronous and will be on Echo360. There are five lectures for each week of classes, and the chapter and section numbers from Sipser are given for each week below.
On most Monday class sessions there will be synchronous in-class discussions, where students will be presented with a problem and solve in in groups using breakout rooms. Attendance is required -- if you cannot make a meeting for good reasons, apply for an excused absence on the Moodle site.
The remaining class sessions will be "semi-lectures" and attendance will not be graded. They will be recorded on Echo360.
There will be one midterm exam, during class time on Wednesday 2 April, with a review session during the previous semi-lecture. There will be a final exam scheduled by the University during finals period.
PART I: Regular, Context-Free and Computable Languages
Week 1 Video Lectures: Basics, Induction, Regular Expressions (0, 1.3)
Mon 03 Feb Semi-Lecture 1
Wed 05 Feb Semi-Lecture 2 (UGRAD ADD/DROP)
Week 2 Video Lectures: Finite Automata, Kleene, Myhill-Nerode (1)
Mon 10 Feb Feb Semi-Lecture 3
Wed 12 Feb Discussion #1 (GRAD ADD/DROP)
Week 3 Video Lectures: Context-Free Languages (2.1-2.3)
Mon 17 Feb NO CLASS (Presidents' Day holiday)
Wed 19 Feb Semi-Lecture 4
Thu 20 Feb Discussion #2 (MONDAY SCHEDULE)
Fri 21 Feb HW#1 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 22 Feb Late deadline for HW#1 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 4 Video Lectures: Turing Machines, CT Thesis (3)
Mon 24 Feb Semi-Lecture 5
Wed 26 Feb Discussion #3
Week 5 Video Lectures: Decidability (4)
Mon 03 Mar Semi-Lecture 6
Wed 05 Mar Discussion #4
Fri 07 Mar HW#2 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 08 Mar Late deadline for HW#2 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 6 Video Lectures: Reducibility (5)
Mon 10 Mar Semi-Lecture 7
Wed 12 Mar Discussion #5
SPRING BREAK
Week 7 Video Lectures: Recursion Theorem, Kolmogorov (6.1, 6.4)
Mon 24 Mar Semi-Lecture 8
Wed 26 Mar Discussion #6
Fri 28 Mar HW#3 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 29 Mar Late deadline for HW#3 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 8 Review and MIDTERM on Ch. 1-6
Mon 31 Mar Review Session
Wed 02 Apr MIDTERM EXAM, ILC 131, on Chapters 1-6 (Weeks 1-7)
PART II: Complexity Theory
Week 9 Video Lectures: Time Complexity, P and NP (7.1-7.3)
Mon 07 Apr Semi-Lecture 9
Wed 09 Apr Discussion #7
Fri 11 Apr HW#4 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 12 Apr Late deadline for HW#4 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 10 Video Lectures: NP Completeness (7.4, 7.5)
Fri 12 Apr NO CLASS (INSTRUCTOR CONFLICT) (MONDAY SCHEDULE)
Mon 14 Apr Semi-Lecture 10
Wed 16 Apr Semi-Lecture 11 and Discussion #8
Fri 18 Apr NO CLASS (MONDAY SCHEDULE)
Mon 21 Apr NO CLASS (Patriots' Day holiday)
Week 11 Video Lectures: Space Complexity (8.1-8.3)
Wed 24 Apr Semi-Lecture 12
Fri 26 Apr HW#5 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 27 Apr Late deadline for HW#5 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 12 Video Lectures: Logspace Complexity (8.4-8.6)
Mon 29 Apr Discussion #9
Week 13 Video Lectures: Circuit Complexity and the NC Classes
Wed 01 May Semi-Lecture 13
Mon 05 May Discussion #10
Wed 07 May Review Session
Fri 09 May HW#6 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 10 May Late deadline for HW#6 at 11:59 p.m.
FINAL EXAM (cumulative): To be scheduled by the University
Last modified 15 April 2024