CS388G: Algorithms: Techniques and Theory

CS388G: Algorithms: Techniques & Theory (#51820), Fall 2018

The University of Texas at Austin
Department of Computer Science
August 30, 2018

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Time and Place. TTh 2-3:30, GDC 5.302

Professor. Vijaya Ramachandran (vlr"at"cs), GDC 4.430, 471-9554.
Office Hours. TTh 10 - 11.

TA. Udit Agarwal (udit”at”cs)
Office Hour. M 10:30-11:30, GDC 4.416

Textbook and Course Material.

(Recommended) T.H. Cormen, C.E. Leiserson, R.L. Rivest, C. Stein, Introduction to Algorithms, Third Edition, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2009. About half of the course material will be from the textbook.
Selected journal and conference papers.
Prerequisites. Graduate standing, and a theory algorithms course such as undergraduate CS331.

COURSE OUTLINE.

This is a graduate diversity course in a theory thread. We will cover the following topics in the design and analysis of algorithms. All algorithms will be analyzed to obtain provable bounds. There is no programming component to the course. Here is a course outline.

NP-completeness: P and NP; NP-completeness reductions; approximation algorithms	2 weeks
Data structures and efficient algorithms: Amortized analysis, Fibonacci heap; splay tree; union find; minimum spanning tree; shortest paths	2-3 weeks
Maximum flow and maximum matching: Ford-Fulkerson; Edmond-Karp; Push-Relabel; Edmond's blossom shrinking algorithm	2 weeks
Randomized algorithms: Tail bounds; randomized selection; randomized graph algorithms; universal hashing	2 weeks
Selected Short Topics: Fine-grained complexity; dynamic algorithms; online algorithms and paging; cache-oblivious algorithms; parallel and distributed algorithms	2 weeks

Canvas and Piazza. Course material will be posted on Canvas. There will be a discussion forum on Piazza.

Course Grade. The course grade will include plus and minus grades, and will be based on the following:

Two tests, worth totally 43 points. Tests will be scheduled in the evening (see dates listed below).
Problem sets, worth totally 32 points.
Peer grading, worth 5 points.
Project, worth 12 points.
Final quiz, worth 5 points.
Class participation, worth 3 points.

Further Information on the 2 Tests. The total of 43 points will be distributed over the two tests as follows.

28 points for the higher scoring test.
15 points for the lower scoring test.

Dates for the 2 Tests.

The tests will be held in the evening. The dates and times for the two tests are:

Monday, October 15, 5-6:30 pm in GDC 4.302 (one floor below regular classroom; room available until 7 pm)
Monday, November 19, 5-6:30 pm in GDC 4.302 (room available until 7 pm)

Please make a note of the dates --- there will be no make-up dates once they are finalized.
Also, please hold Monday, December 3, 5-7 p.m. as an extra slot for class presentations (see below).
Any student with a conflict with any of these two time-slots should report to me by September 6. Alternate conflict-free time-slots will be chosen in consultation with all students.

Quiz. The quiz will be held during class on Thursday, December 6.

Class Presentations. We will have project presentations during class meetings in the last two weeks of classes.

An extra class on the evening of December 3 may be scheduled if needed to accommodate all talks (see above).

Class Participation. This will be based on questions and comments in class and during project presentations, comments posted on the discussion board, and interactions during office hours.

Grading Queries. Any questions on grading should be brought to the attention of the TA or the instructor no later than a week after the graded material is returned to the class.

Students with Disabilities. Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd

If you require any assistance or accommodations from me, please let me know by September 14.

Accommodations for Religious Holidays. By UT Austin policy, you must notify the instructor of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class or an examination in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time before or after the absence, provided proper notification is given.

If you intend to make use of such accommodations, please let me know by September 14.

Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty. Anyone who violates the rules for the problem sets or who cheats in the in-class tests or final exam is in danger of receiving an F for the course. Additional penalties may be levied by the Computer Sciences department and the University. See http://www.cs.utexas.edu/academics/conduct/