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Algorithms and Complexity
 


Theoretical Computer Science - Bridging Course
Graduate Course - Summer Term 2019
Fabian Kuhn

 

Course description

The aim of the course is to provide basic knowledge of theoretical computer science to computer science M.Sc. students who do not yet have this necessary background (e.g., because of a different major during their undergraduate studies). The course introduces the (mathematical) foundations of theoretical computer science.. We will see what can be computed and how efficiently, as well as what cannot. More specifically, the following topics will be included:

  • Automata
  • Formal languages
  • Formal grammars
  • Turing machines
  • Decidability
  • Complexity theory
  • Logic

Course Format

The course will be based on existing recordings provided by Diego Tipaldi combined with regular weekly meetings with a tutor.

Schedule

The exercise lessons will take place on Mondays from 12:15 to 14:00 in room 015 on the ground floor of building 106.


Exam

There will be an oral exam. The date of the exam will be announced accordingly.


Course Material

Slides and Recordings

Topic Slides Recordings
Introduction n/a n/a
Mathematical Preliminaries PDF MP4 (44:30)
DFA, NFA, Regular Languages PDF MP4 (1:14:04)
Regular Languages and closure wrt elementary operations
Regular expressions MP4 (1:37:55)
Non-regular languages MP4 (22:12)
Context Free Grammars I PDF MP4 (1:34:09)
Context Free Grammars II MP4 (42:00)
Pushdown Automata MP4 (1:11:18)
Pumping Lemma for Context Free Grammars MP4 (1:29:51)
Turing Machines I PDF MP4 (52:31)
Turing Machines II MP4 (1:23:03)
Decidability and decidable languages. PDF MP4 (52:54)
Decidability, mathematical backgrounds on cardinality, Cantor's diagonal argument MP4 (1:15:40)
Decidability and the halting problems. MP4 (12:50)
Complexity I PDF MP4 (1:28:51)
Complexity II MP4 (1:34:27)
Complexity III MP4 (1:28:08)
Propositional Logic and basic definitions, CNF/DNF, logical entailment. PDF MP4 (37:11)
Propositional Logic. Deduction/Contraposition/Contradiction Theorems and Derivations. MP4 (1:00:14)
Propositional Logic. Derivations, Soundness and Completeness of calculi. MP4 (53:16)
Propositional Logic. Refutation-completeness and Resolution. MP4 (04:16)
First Order Logic. Derivations. PDF MP4 (46:47)
First Order Logic. Satisfaction, closed formulae and brief overview on Normal Forms. MP4 (1:39:04)


Exercises

You will be provided with an exercise sheet every week, and the solutions will be discussed in the exercise lessons. It is not mandatory to submit solutions. However, in case you wish to get feedback on your written solutions, send your solutions to Mohamad Ahmadi by the given deadlines.


Week Topic(s) Assigned Date Problem Set Sample Solution

1 Mathematical Preliminaries 29.04.2019 Exercise 01 Solution 01

2 DFA, NFA, Regular Languages
06.05.2019 Exercise 02 Solution 02

3 Regular Expressions
Non-regular Languages
13.05.2019 Exercise 03 Solution 03

4 Context-Free Grammars
Pushdown Automata
20.05.2019 Exercise 04 Solution 04

5 Turing Machines 27.05.2019 Exercise 05 Solution 05

6 Decidability and Undecidability
Halting Problem
03.06.2019 Exercise 06 Solution 06

7 Decidability
Landau Notation
17.06.2019 Exercise 07 Solution 07

8 Complexity 24.06.2019 Exercise 08 Solution 08

9 Propositional Logic 02.07.2019 Exercise 09 Solution 09

10 Resolution Calculus
First Order Logic
03.07.2018 Exercise 10 Solution 10


Additional Material

Text Books

[sipser] Introduction to the Theory of Computation
Michael Sipser
PWS Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0-534-95097-3
[HMU] Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation
John E. Hopcroft, Rajeev Motwani, Jeffrey D. Ullman
Addison-Wesley, 3rd edition, 2006, ISBN 81-7808-347-7
[mendelson] Introduction to Mathematical Logic
Elliott Mendelson
CRC Press, 6th edition, 2015, ISBN-13: 978-1482237726
[enderton] A Mathematical Introduction to Logic
Herbert B. Enderton
Academic Press, 2nd edition, 2001, ISBN-13: 978-0122384523