Intro to Grad Algorithms

CS 6515 - Spring 2021


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COURSE INFO


CLASS TIMES: Tu+Th 9:30am - 10:45am via BlueJeans (link available in Canvas)

INSTRUCTOR:   Eric Vigoda
Email:
Eric's office hours: see Piazza

TAs:   TBA
TA office hours: see Piazza


TEXTBOOK: (required) Algorithms by Dasgupta, Papadimitriou, and Vazirani [DPV]
(Available at GaTech Bookstore or via Amazon)
(Note, exercise/section numbers may differ in unofficial online versions.)

Other good references:
Algorithms by Jeff Erickson
Algorithms Unlimited by Roughgarden
Algorithm Design by Kleinberg and Tardos
Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest and Stein
(Some of these books are available online from the library)


TOPICS COVERED:
  • Dynamic programming
  • FFT
  • RSA public-key cryptosystem
  • Max-flow algorithms
  • Linear programming
  • NP-completeness
  • Markov chains and PageRank

    • GRADING SCHEME:
    • Quizzes: 10%
    • Homeworks: 5%
    • 3 midterm exams: 85%
    The final exam will be used as a makeup exam if you miss an exam with a valid excuse (see below). In addition, you can use the final to replace one exam. The grade thresholds will be announced at the last lecture on April 22.


    EXAMS: will be done via HonorLock at the class time.


    ADAPTS:
    If you have special accommodations for testing or homeworks then you should discuss it with me during the first week of classes. Note you need to submit your ADAPTS testing requests on time so that they can adminster the testing, we cannot adminster the testing with special accommodations.

    Exam Absences:
    If you have an institute approved absence around an exam date then notify the instructor at least 10 days in advance and email me a copy of the institute approved absence from the Dean of Students. If you are sick for an exam then you need to submit documentation to the Dean of Students and then email the instructor an excused absence letter from the Dean of Students (we cannot be privy to any medical information).

    Cheating:
    Any evidence of cheating or plagarism on homeworks or exams will be immediately reported to the Office of Student Integrity (OSI).
    You will be given a zero on that aspect (total homework grade for the course or that exam) AND your overall course grade will be lowered by one letter.
    OSI may impose stricter punishments.
    There are typically multiple versions of the exam so it is easy to identify students who copy from other students.

    HOMEWORK POLICIES:
     Submissions:
    Homeworks are submitted via Gradescope.
    No late homeworks will be accepted since we will often discuss the solutions during
    class and solution sets will be posted to Canvas after the homeworks are collected.

    Collaboration:
    Homework solutions must be in your own words.
    It is probably best to try the homework on your own first. For the challenging problems, it might be useful to work together with other students. However, you should redo the solution from scratch by yourself, and write it up in your own words.
    List at the top of your homework who you collaborated with and any outside sources you consulted (including any solution sets you might have found on the web).
    Note homeworks are not worth much, the point of homeworks is to practice and learn the material so copying the solutions does not serve much purpose.
    We will typically do a fast grading of the homeworks and only of a subset of the problems, so you should double-check the solutions yourself.