Module overview
Linked modules
Pre-requisites: COMP1215 and COMP1201
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- The nature and examples of undecidable problems
- The relationship between the regular, context-free and recursively enumerable classes of languages, and the state-machines that accept them
- The complexity classes P and NP together with examples of NP-complete problems
- The time and space complexity of algorithms and problems
- The complexity class PSPACE together with examples of PSPACE-complete problems
- The diagonalisation proof technique
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Analyse the complexity of a given algorithm or problem
- Ascertain and prove whether or not a given language is regular
- Use polynomial-time reduction to reason about the complexity class of a problem
- Ascertain and prove whether or not a given language is context-free
- Use the reduction technique to show that a problem is undecidable
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Follow-up work | 36 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 36 |
| Lecture | 36 |
| Tutorial | 12 |
| Completion of assessment task | 8 |
| Revision | 10 |
| Wider reading or practice | 12 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Gruska J (1996). Foundations of Computing. Thomson.
Barwise J and Etchemendy J (1993). Turing's World. Stanford.
Sipser M, (1997). Introduction to the Theory of Computation. PWS.
Dexter C. Kozen (1999). Automata and Computabilty. Springer.
Cohen D (1996). Introduction to Computer Theory. Wiley.
Hey AJG (1996). Feynman Lectures on Computation. Addison Wesley.
Jones ND (1997). Computability and Complexity. MIT.
Dewdney AK (2001). The (new) Turing Omnibus. Henry Holt.
Hein J (2002). Discrete Structures, Logic, and Computability. Jones and Bartlett.
Harel D (1992). Algorithmics: The Spirit of Computing. Addison Wesley.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Quizzes | 10% |
| Examination | 90% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Examination | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Examination | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External