Fall 2006
EECS 310: Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science
10:00--10:50 MWF

Tech M152
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Northwestern University

class webpage: http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~kao/cs310

Copyright (c) 2002--2006, Ming-Yang Kao
(last updated 8/30/2006)

 

*** Important Announcements. Please Check Daily. ***

• Problem Set #7 has been posted. (11/16/2006)

• Problem Set #8 has been posted. (11/22/2006)

This course will discuss fundamental concepts and tools in discrete mathematics with emphasis on their applications to computer science. Example topics include counting; cryptography and number theory; logic and proof; induction, recursion, and recurrences; probability; graphs.

 

Instructor:

Professor Ming-Yang Kao
Office: Tech M324
Phone: 847-230-9867
Email: kao@cs.northwestern.edu
URL: www.cs.northwestern.edu/~kao
Office Hours: 3:00--4:00 Tuesday, 11:00--12:00 Wednesday, or by appointment

Robbie Schweller (5th-year Graduate Student)

Office: Ford 2-206
Phone: 847-467-4971

Email: schwellerr@cs.northwestern.edu

URL: www.cs.northwestern.edu/~schwellerr

Office Hours: 11:00--12:00 Monday and Thursday or by appointment

Math 214-3 and one of EECS 110 and EECS 111.

 

Course Work and Grading Policy:

Your grade will be based on weekly reading assignments (0%), eight weekly problem sets (7.5% each, 60% in total), one midterm (15%), and one final examination (25%).

• Weekly Reading Assignments: Reading assignments will be posted on the class web page. You are responsible for the materials that are assigned but are not covered in class. Some of such materials are covered in the prerequisites or earlier courses.

• Weekly Problems Sets: A problem set will be assigned each Friday from week 2 through week 10 except the midterm week and will be due at the start of class on the following Friday.

• Midterm Examination: The midterm examination will be held in class on Friday, 10/20/2006. The midterm will cover the materials that we discuss or assign before the midterm.

• Final Examination: The final examination will be held as scheduled by the University (in Tech M152, 9:00--11:00, Wednesday, 12/6/2006). It will cover the materials that we discuss or assign over the entire quarter. The materials before and after the midterm will weigh at least 20% and 60%, respectively.

Without a Dean's excuse, no late problem set will be accepted, and no early or make-up examination will be given.

 

Textbooks:

• Required: K. Bogart, C. Stein, and R. L. Drysdale.  Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science. 1st Edition, September, 2005, Key College.

1. PRIMES is in P. This paper gives the first known deterministic algorithm that can determine if an integer is a prime or a composite in polynomial time.

2. How many prime numbers are there?

3. Given a positive integer n, how many integers between 1 and n are relatively prime to n?

4. Interested in factoring a large number and becoming rich and famous?

5. Are breaking RSA and factorizing integers equally hard?

6. Multiple-Size Divide-and-Conquer Recurrences 

This schedule is subject to modification. More details will be added as they become available.

1. Week 1 (09/19--09/22): Chapter 1 (2 lectures).

2. Week 2 (09/25--09/29): Chapter 1 (1 lecture)  and Chapter 2 (2 lectures).

3. Week 3 (10/02--10/06): Chapter 2 (3 lectures).

4. Week 4 (10/09--10/13): Chapter 2 (1 lecture) and Chapter 3 (2 lectures).

5. Week 5 (10/16--10/20): Chapter 3 (1 lecture), Review Session (1 lecture), and the midterm (10/20).

6. Week 6 (10/23--10/27): Chapter 4 (3 lectures).

7. Week 7 (10/30--11/03): Chapter 4 (3 lectures).

8. Week 8 (11/06--11/10): Chapter 5 (3 lectures).

9. Week 9 (11/13--11/17): Chapter 5 (3 lectures).

10. Week 10 (11/20--11/24): Chapter 6 (2 lectures) and Thanksgiving Break (11/24).

11. Week 11 (11/27--12/01): Chapter 6 (3 lectures).

12. Week 12 (12/04--12/08): Final Examination Week.  The final will be held in our classroom Tech M152, 9:00--11:00, Wednesday, 12/6/2006.

• Week 1.
  • Reading Assignment: Sections 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3.
  • There is no problem set this week.
• Week 2.
  • Reading Assignment: Section 1.4 for Monday's discussion. Sections 2.1 and 2.2 for Wednesday's and Friday's discussions.
  • Problem Set #1: posted 20:34 on 9/28/2006.
• Week 3.
  • Reading Assignment: Chapter 2.
  • Problem Set #2: posted 20:16 on 10/5/2006.
• Week 4.
  • Reading Assignment: Chapter 2 for Monday's discussion; Chapter 3 for Wednesday's and Friday's.
  • Problem Set #3: posted 20:14 on 10/12/2006.
• Week 5.
  • Reading Assignment: Chapter 3 for Monday's discussion; Chapters 1--3 for Wednesday's review session. The midterm will be on Friday.
  • There is no problem set this week.
• Week 6.
  • Reading Assignment: Sections 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3.
  • Problem Set #4: posted 19:49 on 10/26/2006.
• Week 7.
  • Reading Assignment:  Sections 4-4, 4-5, and 4-6.
  • Problem Set #5: posted 21:17 on 11/2/2006.
• Week 8.
  • Reading Assignment: Sections 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, and 5-4.
  • Problem Set #6: posted 20:05 on 11/9/2006.
• Week 9.
  • Reading Assignment: Sections 5-5, 5-6, and 5-7.
  • Problem Set #7: posted 21:20 on 11/16/2006.
• Week 10.
  • Reading Assignment: Sections 6-1 and 6-2.
  • Problem Set #8: posted 20:26 on 11/22/2006.
• Week 11.
  • Reading Assignment: Sections 6-3, 6-4, and 6-5.

  • There is no problem set this week.

• Week 12. Final Exam Week. The final will be held in our classroom Tech M152, 9:00--11:00, Wednesday, 12/6/2006.