Schedule

Readings are in Sipser's Introduction to the Theory of Computation, 2nd ed. unless otherwise specified.

#DayDateTopic & Lecture NotesReadingsOther HandoutsProblem Sets CS121

Problem Sets

CSCI E-121

1
Tu
Sept. 2
Introduction and Overview
Preface
 
 
 
Unit 1: Finite Automata
2
Th
Sept. 4
Strings, Languages,
and Induction
Ch. 0
 
 
 
3
Tu
Sept. 9
Finite Automata
Sec. 1.1-1.2
 
PS 0 due
 
4
Th
Sept. 11
NFAs vs. DFAs, Closure Properties
Sec 1.1-1.2
 
 
PS 0 due (Fri)

 
5
Tu
Sept. 16
Regular Expressions
Sec 1.3
 
PS 1 due
 
6
Th
Sept. 18
Countability and Uncountaibility
Sec 1.3, 
Sec 4.2 (pp. 174-178)
 
 
PS 1 due (Fri)

 
7
Tu
Sept. 23
The Pumping Lemma 
and Nonregular languages
Sec 4.2 (pp. 174-178), 
Sec. 1.4
 
PS 2 due
 
8
Th
Sept. 25
DFA Minimization
Context Free Grammars
Sec. 1.4
 
 
PS 2 due (Fri)
Unit 2: Context-Free Languages
9
Tu
Sept. 30
Ambiguity of Context-free Grammars
Pushdown Automata
Sec. 2.1
 
PS 3 due
 
10
Th
Oct. 2
Problem solving session

 
Sec. 2.2
 
 
PS 3 due (Fri)
11
Tu
Oct. 7
CFGs vs. PDAs, Non-CF Languages
Sec. 2.2, 2.3
 
PS 4 due

 
 
12
Th
Oct. 9
CF Recognition
Sec. 2.1
 
 
PS 4 due (Fri)
Unit 3: Computability
13
Tu
Oct. 14
CFL wrap-up
Hilbert and Turing
Sec. 3.1
 
 
 
Th
Oct. 16

Midterm Examination on Material thru Oct. 10

 

 

 

 
14 
Tu
Oct. 21
Turing Machines and
the Church-Turing Thesis
Sec. 3.2, 3.3
 
PS 5 due
 
15
Th
Oct. 23
Recognizability & Decidability
Sec. 3.2, 3.3, 4.1
 
 
 PS 5 due (Fri)
16
Tu
Oct. 28
Turing's Theorem
Sec. 4.1, 4.2
 
PS 6 due
 
17
Th
Oct. 30
Reducibility
Sec. 4.2, 5.1
 
 
PS 6 due (Fri)
18
Tu
Nov. 4
Partial Recursive Functions, 
Undecidable questions
Sec. 5.1, 5.3
 

 

PS 7 due

 

 
Unit 4: Computational Complexity
19
Th
Nov. 6
Computational Complexity
Sec. 7.1
 
 
PS 7 due (Fri)
20
Tu
Nov. 11
Polynomial Time
Sec. 7.2
 
PS 8 due

 
 
21
Th
Nov. 13
NP
Sec. 7.3
 
 
PS 8 due (Fri)
22
Tu
Nov. 18
P vs. NP, NP-completeness
Sec. 7.4, 7.5
 
 
 
23
Th
Nov. 20
More NP-completeness
Sec. 7.5
 
 
 
24
Tu
Nov. 25
Cook-Levin and More on NP
Sec. 7.4, 10.4
 
 
 
 
Th
Nov. 27
NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING
 
 
 
 
25
Tu
Dec. 2
Glimpses Beyond & Conclusions
Sec. 10.4
PS 9 due (Tuesday, no late date)
 PS9 due (Tuesday)
 
 
TBD
 Review Section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TBD

Final Examination

2013 Final Exam and Solutions