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\handout{1}{Prof. Ron Rivest}{5 Wednesday 2003}{Matthew 
       Lepinski}{Handout 1: General Information}


\section*{Lectures, Recitations and Office Hours}
\label{sec:lect-recit-office}

Lectures are Monday and Wednesday, 11--12:30, in 24-121. Recitations
are at 1 and 4, Thursdays, in 34-304. There will be an additional recitation
at 10am on Thursday in 34-302. The office hours of the TAs 
have not yet been determined. (We will discuss the best times for office
hours at the first recitation.) See the calendar on the course website
for exceptions.

\section*{Prerequisites}
\label{sec:prerequisites}

We assume that you have taken 6.042, Mathematics for Computer Science.
6.045 is, at heart, a mathematics course, and we assume that you are
reasonably facile with mathematical concepts. In particular, we assume
that you are comfortable with formal mathematical proofs, and can
write them up properly.
    

\section*{Course materials}
\label{sec:course-materials}

The book for this class is \emph{Introduction to the Theory of
  Computation} by Michael Sipser. If you do not have a copy of the textbook,
copies are available for purchase at Quantum Books.
The textbook has been placed on
reserve at Barker Library, as well as three other books that students 
in the course have found useful in the past:

\begin{itemize}
\item \emph{Introduction to Languages and the Theory of
    Computing}, by John Martin
\item \emph{Automata and Complexity} by Dexter Kozen
\item \emph{Computers and intractability : a guide to the theory of
    NP-completeness}, by Michael Garey and David S. Johnson.
\end{itemize}

Extra copies of handouts and supplemental readings will be kept in the
course drawer, which is located in the 3rd floor lounge, NE43. (The
central location for the ``theory'' floor of the LCS.)

\section*{Electronic Infrastructure}
\label{sec:electr-infr}

There are two course mailing lists. The first,
\texttt{6.045-staff@mit.edu}, reaches only the course staff. The second,
\texttt{6.045-students@mit.edu}, reaches all staff and students.
Please feel free to contact the staff via the first list, and your
fellow students via the second. We especially encourage you to use the
list to find collaborators.

There is also a course web page, at
\begin{center}
  \texttt{http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/classes/6.045/spring03}
\end{center}
Electronic copies of handouts and homework sets will be available
there as they are created.

\section*{Grading Policy}
\label{sec:grading-policy}

There will be (approximately) weekly homework assignments, three
in-class quizzes, and a final exam.  The final grade will be computed
using the following weights:
\begin{itemize}
\item Homework: 30\% 
\item Quizzes: 30\%
\item Final Exam: 30\%
\item Participation in class and recitation sections: 10\%.
\end{itemize}


\section*{Homeworks}
\label{sec:homeworks}

    
Homework will be due approximately every week, at the beginning of
Wednesday's lecture. We feel it is very important that you turn in the
homework assignments on time and we are unable to accept late homeworks.
However, when computing your grade at the end of the course, we will 
drop your lowest homework score. Therefore you need not worry about getting 
a bad grade on a single assignment. 

With regards to homework: full credit will be given for correct
answers and proofs, of course. We will also grant partial credit for
partial solutions and solutions with minor flaws. We will also give a
\emph{small} amount of partial credit for answers which read in full,
"I don't know." Likewise, proofs with gaps will receive partial
credit, and the partial credit granted will increase if the gaps are
explicitly noted. We will give \emph{no} credit for wildly incorrect
answers which are obviously only there in the hopes of getting partial
credit. Please only write down answers in which you are confident.
Wild guesses only waste our time. Making yourself believe a false
proof is \textbf{bad for your brain}.

We require that all homework solutions be typed up. We will provide
LaTeX shells for you to flesh out with your solutions, but you do not
need to use them. Hand-drawn diagrams are permitted. If you are unfamiliar
with LaTeX, we recommend taking one of the Athena mini-courses on LaTeX
offered 
the week of February 24th. (There are links on the course website to
mini-course information as well as a useful LaTeX How-To document). 


\section*{Collaboration Policy}
\label{sec:collaboration-policy}

We strongly encourage collaboration. 
We do not expect you to be able to solve every
homework problem on your own.  We \emph{do}, however, expect you to write up
your own solution to every problem even if the solution is the result
of a collaborative effort. To repeat: each person
\emph{must} write up their solutions separately. Also, in your write-up
please credit the people with whom you worked.  
If you consult any reference material
other than the textbook, please note on your homework which sources
you used for each problem. 


\section*{Quizzes and Exams}
\label{sec:quizzes-exams}

The quizzes will be held on
\begin{itemize}
\item Wednesday, 26 February,
\item Wednesday, 2 April, 
\item Wednesday, 30 April
\end{itemize}
There will be no homework due on Wednesdays in which a quiz is given.
      The final has yet to be scheduled.


\section*{Contact Information}
\label{sec:contact-information}

\begin{itemize}

\item Lecturer: Prof. Ron Rivest, NE43-324, x3-5880, \texttt{rivest@mit.edu}
\item TA: Matthew Lepinski, NE43-371, x3-6182, \texttt{lepinski@mit.edu}
\item TA: Nodari Sitchinava, \texttt{nodari@mit.edu}
\item Course Secretary: Be Blackburn, NE43-322, x3-6098, \texttt{be@theory.lcs.mit.edu} 

\end{itemize}




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