Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University
CSC 4890 – Introduction to the Theory of Computation
Fall 2015, Syllabus
Class Location and Time: 101 Tureaud Hall, Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-2:50pm
Instructor: Prof. Konstantin (Costas) Busch
Office: 354 Hatcher Hall
Office Hours: Wednesday 1:30-3:00pm (also Monday and Friday 11amnoon if you cannot find me on Wednesday)
Phone: 578-7510
Email: busch [at] csc lsu edu
Teaching Assistant: Wyatt Clements; Office hours: TBA.
Textbook: Introduction to the Theory of Computation, by Michael Sipser, second
edition.
Prerequisite Course:
CSC 2259: Introduction to Discrete Structures (3)
Course Goals:
To introduce fundamental theoretical concepts for the computational complexity of
algorithmic problems, and also to introduce basic techniques used for lexical analysis and
syntax parsing in programming languages.
Main Topics Covered:
Finite Automata
 Deterministic and nondeterministic finite automata
 Regular expressions
Pushdown Automata
 Context-free languages and grammars
 Parsing
Turing Machines
 Turing recognizable languages
 Decidability
 NP-completeness
Grading:
Homework assignments: 40%
2 Exams: 60% (30+30%)
Total points of max grade: 100
100-90 = A (A+ 97, A 93, A- 90)
89-80 = B (B+ 87, B 83, B- 80)
79-70 = C (C+ 77, C 73, C- 70)
69-60 = D (D+ 67, D 63, D- 60)
(Note that D grade is not a passing grade for graduate students.)
Academic Integrity:
LSU Code of Student Conduct governs all work in this course. Unless indicated
otherwise, all written work that is handed in must be prepared only by the individual
whose name appears on the document. Your instructor and teaching assistant are
authorized to give you help on all work (help will not be given if it provides unfair
advantage). Refer to http://students.lsu.edu/saa/code_10_1 for more details on definition
of academic misconduct.
Tentative List of Topics
Languages
Finite Automata, Regular Languages
Nondeterministic Finite Automata
Properties of Regular Languages
Regular Expressions
Pumping Lemma for Regular Languages
Context-Free Grammars & Languages
Grammar Normal Forms
Compilers & Parsers
Pushdown Automata
Pushdown Automata & Context-Free Lang.
Pumping Lemma for Context-Free Languages
Turing Machines
Variations of Turing Machines
Universal Turing Machine
Decidable Languages
Chomsky's Hierarchy
Undecidable Problems
Reductions for Decidability
Post-Correspondence Problem
Time Complexity
NP-Completeness – Cook’s Theorem
NP-Complete Reductions