1. The Theory of Computation
Kun-Mao Chao (趙坤茂)
National Taiwan University

2. About this course
Course: The Theory of Computation (限在職專班生選修; This evening class is for part-time students of 在職專班 only.)
Fall semester, 2013
18:30 – 21:15 Tuesday, R439 CSIE Building.
3 credits
Web site:
Instructor: Kun-Mao Chao (趙坤茂)
Teaching assistant: Chia-Jung Chang (張家榮)

3. Instructor: Kun-Mao Chao (趙坤茂) & TA: Chia-Jung Chang (張家榮)

4. Topics Sets, Relations, Languages Finite Automata
Context-free Languages
Turing Machines
Undecidability
Computational Complexity
NP-completeness
Related Topics

5. Grading policy Homework assignments and Class participation (10%)
Two midterm exams (70%; 35% each):
Midterm #1: Oct. 29, 2013 (tentative)
Midterm #2: Dec. 10, 2013 (tentative)
Oral presentation of selected papers/topics (20%)
Dec. 31, 2013

6. Textbook Elements of the Theory of Computation, Second Edition
by Harry R. Lewis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, Prentice-Hall, 1998.

7. Other matters No class on Dec. 17, 2013
Fixed-Parameter Algorithms & Boolean Networks on Dec. 24, 2013
Class presentations on Dec. 31, 2013: TBA

8. Top ten reasons for taking this class
10. You may bring your dinner to the class as long as it is not stinky and you clean up your table afterwards. 9. A good mental exercise. 8. To learn more about theoretical computer science. 7. To sharpen your skills in proving theorems. 6. To learn more about computation.

9. Top ten reasons for taking this class
5. To improve your programming ability. 4. To explore the pleasure of pressure. 3. To figure out your potential that you never knew. 2. To get inspired. 1. You tell me!