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 02 Feb Semi-Lecture 1
Wed 04 Feb Semi-Lecture 2 (UGRAD ADD/DROP)
Week 2 Video Lectures: Finite Automata, Kleene, Myhill-Nerode (1)
Mon 09 Feb Feb Semi-Lecture 3
Wed 11 Feb Discussion #1 (GRAD ADD/DROP)
Week 3 Video Lectures: Context-Free Languages (2.1-2.3)
Mon 16 Feb NO CLASS (Presidents' Day holiday)
Wed 18 Feb Semi-Lecture 4
Thu 19 Feb Discussion #2 (MONDAY SCHEDULE)
Fri 20 Feb HW#1 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 21 Feb Late deadline for HW#1 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 4 Video Lectures: Turing Machines, CT Thesis (3)
Mon 23 Feb Semi-Lecture 5
Wed 25 Feb Discussion #3
Week 5 Video Lectures: Decidability (4)
Mon 02 Mar Semi-Lecture 6
Wed 04 Mar Discussion #4
Fri 06 Mar HW#2 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 07 Mar Late deadline for HW#2 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 6 Video Lectures: Reducibility (5)
Mon 09 Mar Semi-Lecture 7
Wed 11 Mar Discussion #5
SPRING BREAK
Week 7 Video Lectures: Recursion Theorem, Kolmogorov (6.1, 6.4)
Mon 23 Mar Semi-Lecture 8
Wed 25 Mar Discussion #6
Fri 27 Mar HW#3 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 28 Mar Late deadline for HW#3 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 8 Review and MIDTERM on Ch. 1-6
Mon 30 Mar Review Session
Wed 01 Apr MIDTERM EXAM, ILC 131, 5:30-7:30 pm, 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 06 Apr Semi-Lecture 9
Wed 08 Apr Discussion #7
Fri 10 Apr HW#4 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 11 Apr Late deadline for HW#4 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 10 Video Lectures: NP Completeness (7.4, 7.5)
Mon 13 Apr Semi-Lecture 10
Wed 15 Apr Semi-Lecture 11
Fri 17 Apr NO CLASS (MONDAY SCHEDULE BUT CLASS CANCELED)
Mon 20 Apr NO CLASS (Patriots' Day holiday)
Week 11 Video Lectures: Space Complexity (8.1-8.3)
Wed 22 Apr Semi-Lecture 12 and Discussion #8
Fri 24 Apr HW#5 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 25 Apr Late deadline for HW#5 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 12 Video Lectures: Logspace Complexity (8.4-8.6)
Mon 27 Apr Discussion #9
Week 13 Video Lectures: Circuit Complexity and the NC Classes
Wed 29 Apr Semi-Lecture 13
Mon 04 May Discussion #10
Wed 06 May Review Session for Final Exam
Fri 08 May HW#6 due at 11:59 p.m.
Sat 09 May Late deadline for HW#6 at 11:59 p.m.
FINAL EXAM (cumulative): TBA during exam period
Last modified 7 January 2026