PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS OF COURSE

Goals

  1. Provide characterizations (computational models) of the class of effective procedures / algorithms.
  2. Show equivalence of complete models.
  3. Study the boundaries between complete (or so it seems) and incomplete models of computation.
  4. Study the properties of classes of solvable and unsolvable problems.
  5. Solve or prove unsolvable open problems.
  6. Determine reducibility and equivalence relations among unsolvable problems.
  7. Prove meta-theorems that allow us to make very general charcterizations of properties of computable models and their associated problems.
  8. Apply results to various other areas of CS.
  9. Show there is a hierarchy among undecidable problems.
  10. Introduce abstract complexity theory (the real course on this topic is offered this summer)

By the time this course ends, I expect you to have a solid understanding of models of computation, the limits that are imposed by the very nature of computation, and the ubiquity of unsolvable problems throughout CS. I also hope that you come away with stronger formal proof skills and a better appreciation of the importance of discrete mathematics to all aspects of CS. I do not expect to turn you into recursive function theorists. That's a long journey, of which this course represents only the first few steps.

Prerequisites

COT 5310 has prerequisites of COT 4210 and COP 4020. While I understand that some of you may not have the same material in your background as covered here, I do expect you to become familiar with the material in these courses. I will not spend time on the basics of formal languages or automata theory, or on the essential ideas of parsing. I will, however, approach the course material fairly close to the order of the recommended text. This means that you will have about six weeks to get on top of these topics before they become critical to your understanding of what I will be doing in COT 5310. Use this time wisely to review or learn the prerequisite topics.

Keeping Up

I expect you to visit the course web site regularly (preferably daily) to see if changes have been made or material has been added. Attendance is class is preferred, although I do not take attendance. I do, however, ask lots of questions in class and give lots of hints about the kinds of questions I will ask on exams. It would be a shame to miss the hints, or to fail to impress me with your insightful in-class answers.

Doing Your Own Work

When you turn in an assignment, you are implicitly telling me that these are the fruits of your labor. Do not copy anyone else's homework or let anyone else copy yours. In contrast, working together to understand lecture material and problems not posed as assignments is encouraged.

Late Assignments

I will accept no late assignments except under very unusual conditions, and those exceptions must be arranged with me in advance unless associated with some tragic event.

Grading of Assignments

I will grade harder than my actual expectations run. Consequently, a grade of 90% or above will translate into a perfect grade. In general, I will award everyone 10% over the grade they are assigned on the returned papers.

Exams

No communication during exams, except with me or a designated proctor, will be tolerated. A single offense will lead to termination of your participation in the class, and the assignment of a failing grade.

The weights of exams will be adjusted to your personal benefits, as I weigh exams you do well in more than those in which you do less well.

--

Charles E. Hughes
Professor, Computer Science
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32816-2362

E-mail: ceh@cs.ucf.edu
Web: http://www.cs.ucf.edu/~ceh/
Voice: (407) 823 2762
FAX: (407) 823 5419
MCL Lab at IST: (407) 882 1333