Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science

Harvard Extension School

CSCI E-121

Section 1

CRN 17114

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Computation occurs over a variety of substrates including silicon, neurons, DNA, the stock market, bee colonies, and many others. In this course we study the fundamental capabilities and limitations of computation, including the phenomenon of universality and the duality of code and data. We touch upon the following questions: Are there functions that cannot be computed? Are there true mathematical statements that can't be proven? Are there encryption schemes that can't be broken? Is randomness ever useful for computing? Can we use the quirks of quantum mechanics to speed up computation?

Registration Closes: August 29, 2024
Credits: 4

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Term

Fall Term 2024

Part of Term

Full Term

Format

Online

Credit Status

Graduate, Undergraduate

Section Status

Open

Instructor Info

Adam Hesterberg, PhD

Lecturer on Computer Science, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University


Meeting Info

9/3 to 12/21

Participation Option: Online Asynchronous

In online asynchronous courses, you are not required to attend class at a particular time. Instead you can complete the course work on your own schedule each week.

Deadlines

Last day to register: August 29, 2024

Additional Time Commitments

Optional sections to be arranged.

Prerequisites

CSCI E-20 or the equivalent.

Notes

The recorded lectures are from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences course Computer Science 1210. Registered students can ordinarily live stream the lectures Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:45-5 pm starting September 3 or they can watch them on demand. The recorded sessions are typically available within a few hours of the end of class and no later than the following business day. Class sessions for this course may include students enrolled in the FAS companion course. Accordingly, when you participate in live class sessions, you will do so alongside both Division of Continuing Education (DCE) and FAS students. If you participate in a way that causes you to appear in recordings of the class, those recordings may be shown to DCE students enrolled in this course or FAS students enrolled in the companion course, according to the policies of the two schools on accessing recordings of class sessions.

Syllabus

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Tuition

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All Sections of this Course

CRN Section # Participation Option(s) Instructor Section Status Meets Term Dates
17114 1 Online Asynchronous Adam Hesterberg Open Sep 3 to Dec 21

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