Course Description: Introduction to models of computation
and of formal grammars: finite automata and regular languages, pushdown
automata and context-free languages, Turing machines, decidability,
and computational complexity, including polynomial and nondeterministic
polynomial time, polynomial space, and exponential time bounded computation.
Prereqs: CS 375 or consent of instructor. CS 275 is a prerequisite
for CS375. Students should be familiar with logic and discrete mathematics,
and comfortable using proof techniques such as induction.
Textbook: "Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Third Edition,"
by Michael Sipser, ISBN-13: 978-1-133-18779-O.
Errata.
Warning: You should have the Third Edition. I will assign homeworks from the text's exercises and the third edition has exercises that are not in the earlier editions.
Exams and Homework: Midterm exam: Wednesday, Mar 12;
Final exam: Monday, May 4, 3:30-5:30PM; and approximately biweekly homeworks.
Homeworks are due at the start of class on the due date. There will be
one midterm exam and one final. There will be no programming assignments. Homework
handed in more than five minutes after the start of the class when it is due
will not be accepted. Assignments must be legible and grammatical. Copying
of homework from other students or from other sources is strictly prohibited.
Obtaining a solution from another source without citing the source is
plagiarism. You may not use the internet to solve homework problems. Doing
so is plagiarism. Detailed Plagiarism Statement. You
are strongly encouraged to visit me in my office hours or ask for help by
e-mail if you are stuck on homework problems, or if you just want to talk
about something. You don't need an appointment to come to my regularly scheduled
hours. Attendance in class is very strongly encouraged and is part of the grade.
You will make every reasonable effort to arrive before class
begins. Cell phones must be turned off before class starts.
Grades: Course grades are based on: attendance - 10%; homework - 15%;
midterm - 25%; final exam - 50%.
Letter grades are assigned by the scale:
Graduate students: A: 80-100; B: 65-79; C:50-64;
Undergraduates: A: 75-100; B: 60-74; C:45-59;D:35-44.
Outcomes and assessments: The following are the stated learning
outcomes for this course. These will be assessed by a survey at the end
of the semester, in compliance with certification standards for academic
Computer Science departments. A successful student will learn:
Approximate Week by Week Course Outline:
Date
Topic
Chapter
Jan. 14--16
Math: sets, relations, graphs, proofs
0
Jan. 21--23
DFAs, regular operations, NFAs, equivalence
1.1--1.2
Jan. 26--30
Regular expressions, equivalence with FAs
1.3
Feb.2--6
Pumping Lemma, CFGs
1.4, 2.1
Feb. 9--13
Ambiguity, PDAs, equivalence
2.1--2.2
Feb. 16--20
Pumping Lemma, nondeterminism
2.3
Feb. 23--27
Turing machines
3.1
Mar. 2--6
Turing machine variants, Algorithms, Church-Turing thesis
3.2--3.3
Mar. 9, 13
Church-Turing thesis, RAMs
3.3
Mar. 11
MIDTERM
Mar. 16--20
SPRING BREAK!
Mar. 23--27
Decidability, halting Problem
4.1--4.2
Mar. 30--Apr. 3
Reducibilities
5.1--5.3
April 6--10
Reducibilities; recursion theorem
6.1
Apr. 13--17
Big-O and different models; P and NP
7.1--7.3
Apr. 20--24
NP-completeness
7.4--7.5
Apr. 27--May 1
Other complexity classes, tradeoffs
8.1--8.3
May 4
FINAL EXAM: MONDAY, May 4, 3:30-5:30PM 263 FPaul Anderson
Academic Integrity: Per university policy, students shall not plagiarize, cheat, or falsify or misuse academic records. Students are expected to adhere to University policy on cheating and plagiarism in all courses. The minimum penalty for a first offense is a zero on the assignment on which the offense occurred. If the offense is considered severe or the student has other academic offenses on their record, more serious penalties, up to suspension from the university may be imposed.
Plagiarism and cheating are serious breaches of academic conduct. Each student
is advised to become familiar with the various forms of academic dishonesty as
explained in the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Complete
information can be found at the following website: www.uky.edu/Ombud. A plea of ignorance
is not acceptable as a defense against the charge of academic dishonesty. It is
important that you review this information as all ideas borrowed from others
need to be properly credited.
Part II of Student Rights and Responsibilities (available online www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/Code/part2.html) states that all academic work, written or otherwise, submitted by students to their instructors or other academic supervisors, is expected to be the result of their own thought, research, or self-expression. In cases where students feel unsure about the question of plagiarism involving their own work, they are obliged to consult their instructors on the matter before submission. When students submit work purporting to be their own, but which in any way borrows ideas, organization, wording or anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgement of the fact, the students are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism includes reproducing someone else's work, whether it be a published article, chapter of a book, a paper from a friend or some file, or something similar to this. Plagiarism also includes the practice of employing or allowing another person to alter or revise the work which a student submits as his/her own, whoever that other person may be. Students may discuss assignments among themselves or with an instructor or tutor, but when the actual work is done, it must be done by the student, and the student alone. When a student's assignment involves research in outside sources of information, the student must carefully acknowledge exactly what, where and how he/she employed them. If the words of someone else are used, the student must put quotation marks around the passage in question and add an appropriate indication of its origin. Making simple changes while leaving the organization, content and phraseology intact is plagiaristic. However, nothing in these Rules shall apply to those ideas which are so generally and freely circulated as to be a part of the public domain (Section 6.3.1). Please note: Any assignment you turn in may be submitted to an electronic database to check for plagiarism.
Accommodations due to disability: If you have a documented disability that requires academic accommodations, please see me as soon as possible during scheduled office hours. In order to receive accommodations in this course, you must provide me with a Letter of Accommodation from the Disability Resource Center (Room 2, Alumni Gym, 257-2754, email address: jkarnes@email.uky.edu) for coordination of campus disability services available to students with disabilities.
Excused Absences: Attendance will only be excused with a compelling excuse. Please do NOT come to class if you have a contagious disease. Your absence will be excused.
Students need to notify the professor of absences prior to class when possible. S.R. 5.2.4.2 defines the following as acceptable reasons for excused absences: (a) serious illness, (b) illness or death of family member, (c) University-related trips, (d) major religious holidays, and (e) special circumstances found to fit "reasonable cause for nonattendance" by the professor. Students anticipating an absence for a major religious holiday are responsible for notifying the instructor in writing of anticipated absences due to their observance of such holidays no later than the last day in the semester to add a class. Information regarding dates of major religious holidays may be obtained through the religious liaison, Mr. Jake Karnes (859-257-2754). Students are expected to withdraw from the class if more than 20% of the classes scheduled for the semester are missed (excused or unexcused) per university policy.
Students may be asked to verify their absences in order for them to be
considered excused. Senate Rule 5.2.4.2 states that faculty have the right
to request "appropriate verification" when students claim an excused absence
because of illness or death in the family. Appropriate notification of
absences due to university-related trips is required prior to the absence.