| Unit name | Communication, complexity and number theory |
|---|---|
| Unit code | COMS20002 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Stam |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
COMS11700 (unless taken as co-requisite) |
| Co-requisites |
COMS11700 (unless taken as pre-requisite) |
| School/department | Department of Computer Science |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
The unit aims to develop students' knowledge of and skills in algebra, and introduce students to basic concepts of coding theory, information theory, and complexity theory.
Tak am abitry pce o Eslignh txt, and you can remove and change a fair number of letters yet with some effort, a reader can still reconstruct the original text. In the modern world, where most data is binary, is it still possible to compress and correct errors? How hard can reconstructing the original data be?
This unit explores the limits of efficient and effective communication from a theoretical perspective (why it is possible based on information theory) with practical applications (how to do it using coding theory) and provides a theoretical framework to argue about the complexity of computations in general (computational complexity theory).
To enable the practical applications, the unit also provides an introduction to algebra, with an emphasis on basic results and the ability to perform algebraic operations.
After following this unit you should be able to
2 hours of lecture per week, augmented by a weekly 1 hour lab session for the first six weeks and a weekly 1 hour tutorial for the final six weeks.
Summative: 2 hour exam (80%) and a practical assessment (20%) of the ability to solve algebraic problems using taught computational methods.
M. Sipser (2006), Introduction to the Theory of Computation (2nd ed.)
