Alex Suciu: Foundations in Mathematics

Professor Alexandru I. Suciu

MTH 3001 -- Foundations in Mathematics

Fall 2001

$*$ Course Information

Course:	MTH 3001 -- Foundations in Mathematics (key # 51948)
Web site:	`http://www.math.neu.edu/~suciu/mth3001/fm-f01.html`
Instructor:	Prof. Alex Suciu < alexsuciu@neu.edu >
Time and Place:	Thursday 5:30 - 7:00 in 544 Nightingale
Office Hours:	Tue. 6:15 - 7:15 PM, Th. 4:30 - 5:30, or by appointment
Prerequisites:	None
Textbook:	Introduction to Algorithms (2nd Edition), by T.H.Cormen, C.E.Leiserson, R.L.Rivest, and C.Stein, MIT Press, 2001
Grade:	Based on 5 homework sets and an extra problem set.

$*$ Course Outline

The purpose of this course is to provide a prerequisite for the courses Analysis of Algorithms and Automata Theory, insuring the students' grasp of the necessary foundations in mathematics and theory. This course will help prepare students to evaluate algorithmic and theoretical claims in papers they read, or presentations they attend. The emphasis will be on solving problems that build an understanding of the basic concepts studied in class.

$*$ Schedule

Day	Topic
September 27	Growth of Functions (Section 3.1)
October 4	Growth of Functions (Sections 3.1 and 3.2)
October 11	Summations (Appendix A.1)
October 18	Summations ( Appendix A.1)
October 25	Recurrences (Sections 4.1 and 4.2)
November 1	Recurrences (Sections 4.3 and 4.4)
November 8	Sets (Appendix B.1 and B.2)
November 15	Sets (Appendix B.3
November 29	Sets (Appendix B.4 and B.5)
December 6	Counting and Probability (Appendix C.1 and C.2)

Homework Assignments

Homework	Problems	Page
1.	Exercises 3.1-1, 3.1-2 and 3.1-4	Page 50
1.	Problems 3-2 a-f and 3-4 a-d	Pages 58-59
2.	Exercises A.1-1, A.1-3, A.1-4 and A.1-7	Page 1062
2.	Exercises A.2-1 and A.2-4; Problem A-1a	Pages 1067-1069
3.	Exercise 4.1-1	Page 67
	Exercises 4.2-1 and 4.2-3	Page 72
	Exercises 4.3-1, 4.3-2 and 4.3-3	Page 75
4.	Exercises B.1-1 and B.1-4	Pages 1074-1075
	Exercises B.2-2, B.2-3 and B.2-4	Page 1077
	Exercises B.3-1 and B.3-4	Pages 1079-1080
5.
	Exercise B.4-1	Page 1084
	Exercise B.5-4	Page 1091
	Problems B-1 a,b	Page 1091
	Exercises C.1-1 and C.1-3	Page 1098
	Extra Problem Set

Here is the list of homework assignments, based on the first edition of the textbook.

$*$ Course Materials

Growth of Functions (a Mathematica notebook)

Department of Mathematics	Office:	441 Lake Hall	Messages:	(617) 373-2450
Northeastern University	Phone:	(617) 373-4456	Fax:	(617) 373-5658
Boston, MA, 02115	Email:	alexsuciu@neu.edu	Directions

$Home$ Started: September 17, 2001. Last modified: December 10, 2001
URL: http://www.math.neu.edu/~suciu/mth3001/fm-f01.html