6.045J / 18.400J Automata, Computability, and Complexity, Spring 2005
An NP completeness problem. "Does P equal NP?" is one of the most important unsolved questions in modern mathematics. (Image by MIT OCW.)
Highlights of this Course
This course features a full set of homework
assignments. In addition, the
recitation section includes many practice problems. 6.045J is a course in the department's "Theoretical Computer Science" concentration.
Course Description
This course is offered to undergraduates and introduces basic mathematical models of computation and the finite representation of infinite objects. The course is slower paced than 6.840J/18.404J. Topics covered include: finite automata and regular languages, context-free languages, Turing machines, partial recursive functions, Church's Thesis, undecidability, reducibility and completeness, time complexity and NP-completeness, probabilistic computation, and interactive proof systems.