CS 441: Discrete Structures for Computer Science

Fall 2008

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General Information

Instructor:
    Prof. Adam J. Lee
    Office: 5325 Sennott Square
    Email: adamlee -at- cs.pitt.edu
    Phone: 412-624-8416
    Office hours:
        M 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
        T 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Teaching assistants:
    David Krebs
    Office: 5324 Sennott Square
    Email: djk37 -at- pitt.edu
    Office hours:
        T,H 1:15 PM - 4:15 PM

    Joshua Geiger
    Office: 6805 Sennott Square
    Email: jjg55 -at- pitt.edu
    Office Hours:
        M 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
        W 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
        T,H 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

    Yao Sun
    Office: 6510 Sennott Square
    Email: yaosun -at- cs.pitt.edu
    Office Hours:
        T 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
        H,F 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Lecture:

MW 3:00 - 4:15 PM, LAWRN 104

Recitation sections:

(35754) W 4:30 - 5:20 PM, SENSQ 6110
(13820) F 2:00 - 2:50 PM, SENSQ 5313
(13874) F 3:00 - 3:50 PM, SENSQ 5313

Textbook:
   Kenneth Rosen
   Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications
   Sixth Edition
   McGraw Hill Publishing Company, 2007

Announcements

[12/15/08] The solution to the final exam is now available, for those who are interested. Enjoy your holiday break!
[12/3/08] Remember that none of the assigned homeworks covered material from Chapter 8. If you are interested in practicing that material, try problems 8.1 #1, 3, 5; 8.2 #1, 11, 15, 17; and 8.5 #1, 3, 11.
[12/3/08] The TAs will hold a review session on Monday 12/8 in 5129 SENSQ beginning at 7:30 PM.
[12/3/08] The final exam will be held from 8:00 AM - 9:50 AM on Friday, December 12th in the usual classroom (104 LAWRN).
[11/26/08] Here are some previous final exams that might help you study: Fall 2005 (Solution), Fall 2006 (Solution), Fall 2007 (Solution). Please note that these exams may not cover exactly the same material that we have covered since the midterm.
[11/18/08] Homework 11 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment. Note that this assignment is due on Monday 12/1.
[11/14/08] Prof. Lee's office hours on Tuesday 11/18 have been moved from 10-11 AM to 4:30-5:30 PM.
[11/12/08] Homework 10 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[11/05/08] Homework 9 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[10/28/08] Homework 8 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[10/26/06] Prof. Lee's office hours are cancelled this week.
[10/21/08] Homework 7 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[10/16/08] Solutions to the midterm are now available.
[10/14/08] Recitations are cancelled this week.
[10/11/08] Although Monday 10/13 is a university holiday, Prof. Lee will hold his office hours as usual.
[10/10/08] Final reminder: There is no class on Monday 10/13 due to fall break. Instead, we will have our midterm on Tuesday 10/14 from 3:00-4:15 PM in the usual classroom.
[10/09/08] Don't forget: the TAs are holding a review session TONIGHT starting at 7:15 PM in 5129 SENSQ.
[10/09/08] Josh's Wednesday office hours have changed! He is now available from 10:00-11:30 AM.
[10/08/08] Homework 6 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[10/07/08] The errors in the slides for lecture 12 have been fixed.
[10/06/08] Professor Lee's Monday office hours for this week are cancelled. Instead, his Tuesday office hours will run from 9:00-11:00am instead of the usual 10:00-11:00am.
[10/01/08] Homework 5 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[10/1/08] Here are some previous midterms that might help you study: Fall 2005 (Solution), Fall 2006 (Solution), Fall 2007 (Solution). Please note that these exams contain some material that we have not yet covered and are missing other material that we have covered.
[9/29/08] The slides for lecture 10 have been updated to fix the typo discovered in class.
[9/24/08] Homework 4 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment. We will cover the material needed to do the last problem in lecture on Monday 9/22.
[9/17/08] Homework 3 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[9/10/08] Homework 2 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[9/3/08] Homework 1 has been posted. Check the homework page to download the assignment.
[8/28/08] Yao's office hours have changed, please check the updated schedule.
[8/27/08] Office hours have been posted.
[8/20/08] Welcome to CS 441! Please check this web page at least 2-3 times per week for important announcements.

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to understand and use (abstract) discrete structures that are backbones of computer science. In particular, this class is meant to introduce logic, proofs, sets, relations, functions, counting, and probability, with an emphasis on applications in computer science.

Prerequisites: Two years of high school algebra

Grading:

30% Midterm
30% Final
30% Homework
10% Participation

Tentative Syllabus

Logic: propositional logic, logical equivalence, predicates and quantifiers, logical reasoning.
Sets: basics, set operations
Functions: one-to-one, onto, inverse, composition
Sequences and Summations
Integers: greatest common divisor, modular arithmetic
Mathematical reasoning: proof strategies, mathematical induction, recursive definitions, structural induction
Relations: properties, combining relations, closures, equivalence, partial ordering
Counting: basic rules, pigeon hole principle, permutations and combinations, binomial coefficients
Probability: Discrete probability, expected value, variance