Mathematics for Computing

McMaster University COMP SCI 1FC3 - Winter 2013

Calendar Description:

Introduction to logic and proof techniques; functions, relations, and sets; counting; trees and graphs; concepts are illustrated using computational tools.

Instructor: Dr. Wolfram Kahl

ITB-245, “ kahl at mcmaster dot ca ”

Office hour: Thursdays, 1-2 p.m., or by appointment (or catch me after class).

Outline

The course outline is available as PDF .

Most online communication in this course is handled via Avenue.

News

January 17: Starting Jan. 22, respectively Jan. 25, the tutorials will be in the following rooms:
- T2 (Tuesday 9:30–11:20): HH-109
- T1 (Tuesday 14:30–16:20): HH-305
- T3 (Friday 11:30–13:20): HH-104

Teaching Assistants

Musa Al-hassy — “ alhassm at mcmaster dot ca ”
Robert Fuller — “ fullerrc at mcmaster dot ca ”
Abubaker Hamid — “ hamidah at mcmaster dot ca ”

Lecture Material

Theorem List 1: Axiom and Theorem List for Chapters 1–3 and 15 (partial):
- ``Semi-blank'' (2 pages 2-up)
- Filled (2 pages 2-up)
Filling in the blanks is a good exercise — I hope you will pleasantly be surprised to find how many you know by now... — ... and of course you don't need to know all of these theorems, as long as you know the axioms or equivalent theorems and can prove your way around to what you need.
Proving every non-axiom in a consistent (that is, non-cyclical) sequence will be an even better exercise...

Textbook

David Gries and Fred B. Schneider: A Logical Approach to Discrete Math, Springer, ISBN-13: 978-0387941158. (Related website)

This book is now available in the back room of Titles (last checked: 2013-01-09).

One copy is on reserve in the Thode library.

The book's Google books page includes selected “preview pages”.

Midterm Tests

All midterm tests are scheduled on Mondays from 16:30-17:30 in T28

Midterm 1: January 28
Midterm 2: February 11
Midterm 3: March 4
Midterm 4: March 25

Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-9:20
9:30-10:20		Tut. Group 2 HH-109
10:30-11:20		Tut. Group 2 HH-109
11:30-12:20					Tut. Group 3 HH-104
12:30-13:20				Office Hour 13:00-14:00	Tut. Group 3 HH-104
13:30-14:20				Office Hour 13:00-14:00
14:30-15:20		Tut. Group 1 HH-305
15:30-16:20		Tut. Group 1 HH-305
16:30-17:20	Lecture: JHE-264		Lecture: JHE-264	Lecture: JHE-264

The tutorial sessions begin in the first week, i.e., from January 8.

Links

The proof checker for LADM-style calculational proofs: CalcCheck
Document preparation:
- LaTeX, the standard typesetting system for Mathematics and Computer Science.
  - Good central entry point: TeX Users Group — check out “Starting out with TeX, LaTeX, and friends”
  - An Example Document (and the formatted result )
  - Andrew Roberts' tutorials: Getting to grips with LaTeX
  - The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e
  - Two-page “LaTeX Cheat Sheet”
  - The LaTeX WkikiBook
  - One LaTeX course
  - TeXworks, a simple TeX working environment available for all today’s major desktop operating systems; on MS Windows included in TeXlive and MiKTeX
  - Texmaker, a free, modern and cross-platform LaTeX editor for Linux, MacOs X and Windows systems
  - LaTeX servlet on sciencesoft.at (a List of On-Line LaTeX Processors)
  - The LaTeX Beamer Class for presentations (many Linux distributions have this as package)
- Inkscape, an SVG-based generic vector-drawing program

Academic Ethics

You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the learning process. Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and academic integrity.

Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: “Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty”), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.

It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various kinds of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix 3, located at

http://www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity

The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:

Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one's own or for which other credit has been obtained.
Improper collaboration in group work.
Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.

Discrimination

“The Faculty of Engineering is concerned with ensuring an environment that is free of all adverse discrimination. If there is a problem that cannot be resolved by discussion among the persons concerned, individuals are reminded that they should contact the Department Chair, the Sexual Harassment Office or the Human Rights Consultant, as soon as possible.”