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CS486 Computability and Intractability

Syllabus

Winter 2007

cs486 website: http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/vcrespi/CS/CS486/cs486.html
Lectures:

MW 2:30-4:10PM, ET A210

Final Exam:

Wednesday, March 14, 1:30-4:00pm, ET A210

Instructor:

Valentino Crespi
vcrespi@calstatela.edu
(323) 343-4596.
ET-A318

Office Hours:

MW 6:00-7:00pm, T 4:00-6:00pm, ET-A318.

Course Description: Theory of Computing; nondeterminisms, decidability and unsolvable problems; NP completeness and intractable computations.
Course Goals: At the end of the course, students are able to
  1. Understand the rigorous notion of algorithm and study the decidability of computational problems. In particular students will learn to distinguish between recursive, recursively enumerable and non recursively enumerable problems.
  2. Understand the role of nondeterministic computations and characterize the class of problems NP. In particular students will learn the concept of NP-completeness and its implications in the P vs NP question.
Prerequisites: CS386
Textbook: Michael Sipser. Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Second edition. Course Technology, 2005.
References:
  • Hartley Rogers, Jr. Theory of Recursive Functions and Effective Computability. The MIT Press (1987).
  • Michael R. Garey, David S. Johnson. Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness. W.H. Freeman and Company (June 1979).
  • Christos Papadimitriou. Computational Complexity. Addison Wesley; 1ST edition (November 30, 1993).
Topics:
  • Review on Languages and Automata. Pushdown Automata. Non-context-free languages (Part I)
  • Computability Theory (Part II: chapters 3, 4, 5, 6).
  • Complexity Theory (Part III: chapters 7, 8, 9).
  • Selected Topics from Chapter 10.
Grading Policy: Two Midterm Exams (25%+25%), Final Exam (40%), Homework Assignments (10%)
Score (%) Letter Grade
90-100 A
80-89 B
60-79 C
50-59 D
0-49 F
Academic Integrity: Students are allowed and encouraged to discuss reading materials with each other. However, homework assignments must be solved and written individually. If you obtain a solution with help then you should acknowledge your source in the paper and then write independently your own solution.

Cheating will not be tolerated. Cheating on any assignment or exam will be taken seriously. All parties involved will receive a grade of F for the course and be reported to the Academic Senate.

General Policies:
  • Makeup Exams: No.
  • Homework Assignments:
    Homework assignments should be written neatly on standard sized paper (8.5 x 11 inch), possibly in black or blue ink (please do not use red) and submitted at the due date (no electronic submissions accepted). Each page should be numbered. Late submissions will not be accepted.
  • Use of Cell Phones: forbidden.
  • Late arrivals:
    Students arriving 30min after the beginning of class will not be admitted.
  • Office:
    Students are warmly invited to visit the instructor (during the announced office hours) for questions and clarifications.
  • E-mail:
    E-mails addressed to vcrespi@calstatela.edu must have, in the subject, the keyword CS486 (e.g. Subject: CS486 ...). All the E-mails will be possibly processed in the evening and so will be answered with a minimum delay. Be careful, the keyword in the subject is important for automatic filtering. Wrong subjects may result in the accidental loss of the message.