Welcome to CS250/EE387!

Instructor: Mary Wootters

TA: Noah Shutty

When and where? M/W 4:30-5:50pm, Sapp Center for Science Teaching and Learning (STLC), Room 118.

Course Description: Introduction to the theory of error correcting codes, emphasizing algebraic constructions and diverse applications throughout computer science and engineering. Topics include basic bounds on error correcting codes; Reed-Solomon and Reed-Muller codes; list-decoding, list-recovery and locality. Applications may include communication, storage, complexity theory, pseudorandomness, cryptography, streaming algorithms, group testing, and compressed sensing.

Prerequisites: Linear algebra, basic probability (at the level of, say, CS109, CME106 or EE178) and "mathematical maturity" (students will be asked to write proofs). Familiarity with finite fields will be helpful but not required.

What do I need to do? Four homework assignments and a final project.

• (2/25) Mary's office hours on Tuesday 2/26 will be 10-11 instead of 3-4 (just this once).
• (2/16): Noah's regular office hours will be Thursdays 3:30-4:30pm. (Gates 486)
• (2/7): A hint was added to HW4, Section 2, Problem 1.
• (1/29): Clarification about notation on HW2: "poly(x)" means "polynomial in x" and "polylog(x)" means "polynomial in log(x)."
• (1/28): Noah will have office hours this week Thursday Jan 31 in Gates 486, 5:30-6:30. In future weeks he will have Thursday afternoon office hours, precise time TBD.
• (1/23): Inspired by a problem on HW2, Milan did some extra reading on Newton's identities and compiled this nice document with several proofs. Thanks Milan!
• (1/14): There was a bug in problem 4c! The PSET has been updated and problem 4c is now optional. That is, you can do just 4(a) and 4(b) to get full credit on problem 4.
• (1/13): Bonus office hours: Mary will stay after class on Monday 1/14 (in addition to her normal office hours on Tuesday) for some extra office hours in case there is demand.
• (1/13): Problem 2 in Section 2 on Homework 1 has been updated to make it easier and also to fix a typo in the hint.

Please follow the instructions on the homework sets for doing and submitting your homework, and note the grading policies below.

Homework:

• Homework 1: [problem set]. Due 1/16.
• Homework 2: [problem set]. Due 1/30.
• Homework 3: [problem set]. Due 2/6.
• Homework 4: [problem set]. Due 2/13.

Project:

• Final Project Guidelines

• Office hours: Mary's office hours are Tuesday 3-4pm in Gates 468, or by appointment. Noah's office hours are Thursday 3:30-4:30 in Gates 486.
• Grading: There will be four homework assignments (each 15% of the final grade) and a final project (40%).
• Textbooks/resources: There is no textbook, but we will occasionally refer to the in-progress textbook Essential Coding Theory, by Guruswami, Rudra and Sudan. Lecture notes and occasional readings will be posted in the schedule.
• Homework: Will be posted here. It is due either as a hard copy at the beginning of class or by email to marykw and noaj before class begins. Late homework will be docked by 20% of the points possible per day it is late up to a maximum of three days. Homework will not be accepted after three days. (Please contact marykw for extenuating circumstances). Do not wait to the last minute to start your homework!