Recursion and Induction CS 389R

A Graduate Course at The University of Texas at Austin

Course Information

Website: cs.utexas.edu/users/hunt/class/2015-spring/cs389r/index.html
Location: GDC 7.808 (South building)
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Unique Number: 52120
Google Group: utexas-cs389r-spring2015
 
Professor: Warren A. Hunt, Jr.
Office: GDC 7.818 (South building)
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, from 2:00pm to 3:30 pm
Email: lastname at cs dot utexas dot edu
 
Teaching Assistant: Nathan Wetzler
TA Office: GDC 7.814F (South building)
TA Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Also available by request.
TA Email: firstinitial nospace lastname at cs dot utexas dot edu
 
Reserved study room: GDC 7.808 (South building)
Reserved room times: Monday through Thursday, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm

This course concerns itself with mathematically modeling computation and analyzing these models. A series of increasingly difficult problems will be assigned. Some of these problems will be discussed in class. Class participation is expected, and student grades will, in part, reflect each student's contributions. Not showing up for class is a sure way to have a student's class-participation grade lowered. There will be two in-class exams and several in-class quizzes. Each student will work on a project proposed by the student. Students will present their projects in class at the end of the semester.

We will first learn something about the ACL2 logic . We will write recursive definitions and use induction to analyze them; this will take several weeks. The next part of the course will be spent formalizing the syntax and semantics of a language to specify and decide Boolean functions. We will disucss a litany of increasingly more complex SAT solvers, each one more sophisticated than its predecessor.

The remainder of the semester will be spent considering other topics involving the use of ACL2 to specify complex systems (e.g., phylogenetics, hardware description languages, microprocessor specifications, regular expressions). Students may also present problems of general interest.

Each student will propose a project topic on which to work prior to the spring break. In the later part of the course, the demands from homework assignements will be reduced with students spending more of their time on their projects.

There will be two exams given. Homework will (generally) be assigned each week, and due nine days later (with some exceptions). The weighting of the grades for the various aspects of the course are: in-class exams - 30% (15% for the first exam and 15% for the last exam), homework - 30%, class project - 30%, and class participation 10%. The lowest homework grade will be dropped in the computation of the final homework grade. Homework will not be accepted late. Projects must be submitted by the last day of our class (May 8th). The examinations must be taken at the scheduled time.

Syllabus

Date Topic Reading Homework Materials from Class
January 21
Wednesday
Course Introduction, Example Uses Recursion and Induction Notes
Sections 1-7
Homework 1 assigned sum-to-n.c
sum-to-n.lisp
January 26
Monday
Basic Concepts Recursion and Induction Notes
Sections 8-9
Homework 2 assigned Lecture Notes
January 28
Wednesday
Definitions, Axioms Recursion and Induction Notes
Sections 10-11
Homework 1 due Lecture Notes
February 2
Monday
Axioms, Terms as formulas, Definitions (revisited) Homework 3 assigned Lecture Notes
February 4
Wednesday
Structural Recursion Lecture Notes
February 9
Monday
Structural Induction Homework 2 due Lecture Notes
February 11
Wednesday
Structural Induction and ACL2 Proof Checker Homework 4 assigned Lecture Notes
February 16
Monday
Structural Induction and ACL2 Proof Checker continued Recursion and Induction Notes
Sections 12-13
Lecture Notes
February 18
Wednesday
Peano Arithmetic and ACL2 Arithmetic Recursion and Induction Notes
Sections 14-15
Homework 3 due Lecture Notes
February 23
Monday
Inadequacies of Structural Recursion Recursion and Induction Notes
Sections 16-17
Homework 5 assigned Lecture Notes
February 25
Wednesday
Ordinals, Definitional Principle, and Induction Principle Homework 4 due Lecture Notes
March 2
Monday
Guest Lecture: Dr. J Moore
"The Method" and JVM Modeling
ACL2 Events
March 4
Wednesday
A Boolean Expression Language: BDDs A Boolean Expression Language
Introduction to the Theorem Prover
Homework 5 due
March 9
Monday
Exam
March 11
Wednesday
Project Proposals Homework 6 assigned
March 16
Monday
Spring Break
March 18
Wednesday
Spring Break
March 23
Monday
ALU Specification and Proof Example See Texas Instruments TTL Data Manual v-adder-example.lisp
March 25
Wednesday
Project Proposal Summaries Homework 6 due
Homework 7 assigned
DE2 HDL Description
DE2 (ACL2 source) Files
March 30
Monday
Hardware Modeling
April 1
Wednesday
SAT Solver example project and modeling Homework 7 due Example SAT Proposal
In-Class SAT Model
April 6
Monday
Project Reports and Questions
April 8
Wednesday
No class, available for questions
April 13
Monday
Project Reports and Questions
April 15
Wednesday
No class, available for questions
April 20
Monday
Project Reports and Questions
April 22
Wednesday
No class, available for questions
April 27
Monday
Student Presentations
April 29
Wednesday
No class, available for questions
May 4
Monday
No class, available for questions
May 6
Wednesday
No class, available for questions

Homework

Homework will generally be assigned every week on Monday, and it is due nine days later on Wednesday at the beginning of class. You should bring your finished homework to class; we may discuss it or we may work a problem or two during class. Late homework is not accepted, but the lowest homework grade will be dropped. Assignments will appear here as the semester progresses. Please show your work -- partial credit cannot be awarded if just an incorrect answer is given. Each homework must have a homework cover sheet attached to the front. Only write the information requested on this cover sheet; do not include your UT ID number nor your Taxpayer ID number.

Policies

There are no specific prerequisites for this class. Students are expected to have graduate standing of have received the instructor's permission to take this class.

In general, the information found in Code of Conduct is a good guide on how to conduct yourself in this class. Additional general information about College of Natural Sciences (CNS) class coursework and procedures can be found in Vice Provost Laude's memorandum to the CNS faculty.

This course should comply with the requirements of the University and the State of Texas. Texas House Bill 2504 specifies a number of items regarding course materials and instructor qualifications: Hunt. In addition, the material contained in the class webpages are designed to be compliant with Gretchen Ritter's (Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Faculty Governance) August 3, 2012, memorandum. Ritter's memorandum also addresses issues concerning campus safety and security. Please familiarize yourself with this information, and let us know if you believe the class Website does not comply with these requirements.

Any scholastic dishonesty will be referred to the Dean of Students Office. The following passage is taken from the University of Texas at Austin Information Handbook for Faculty.

    The Discipline Policies Committee believes that in most cases of scholastic dishonesty the student forfeits the right to credit in that course, and that a penalty of "F" for the course may be warranted. In addition to the academic penalties assigned by a faculty member, the Dean of Students or the hearing officer may assign one or more of the University discipline penalties listed in the "General Information" bulletin, Appendix C, Sections 11-501 and 11-502. Certain types of misconduct, such as a student substituting for someone else on an exam or having someone substitute for the student, submitting a purchased term paper, or altering academic records, have usually involved a penalty of suspension from the University.

As a reminder, the "UT Code of Conduct" is included below, and additional information on-line where one may find additional information (through additional links) about what constitutes plagiarism, cheating, etc. Specifically, the Academic Policies and Procedures of UT Austin may be consulted if you have any questions.

    The core values of the University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

We fully support the University's scholastic honesty policies, and we will follow the University's policies in the event of any scholastic dishonesty. If you are ever unsure whether some act would be considered in violation of the University's policies, do not hesitate to ask your instructors or other University academic representatives.

Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 512-471-6259, or follow this link.

A notice regarding accommodations for religious holidays. By UT Austin policy, you must notify us 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, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

The following recommendations regarding emergency evacuation from the Office of Campus Safety and Security, 512-471-5767, or see the safety office website.

Occupants of buildings on The University of Texas at Austin campus are required to evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated. Alarm activation or announcement requires exiting and assembling outside. Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of each classroom and building you may occupy. Remember that the nearest exit door may not be the one you used when entering the building. Students requiring assistance in evacuation shall inform their instructor in writing during the first week of class. In the event of an evacuation, follow the instruction of faculty or class instructors. Do not re-enter a building unless given instructions by the following: Austin Fire Department, The University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office.

Information about emergency evacuation routes and emergency procedures is available.