Department of Computer Science
The University of Texas at Austin

CS 309 - Geometry of Space - FRI (Spring 2024)
Section: 50655, TTH 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM, WEL 3.320

Instructor: Dr. Shyamal Mitra
Office Hours: TTH 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: GDC 6.320
E-mail: mitra@cs.utexas.edu
Do not send mail on Canvas.

Scope of the Course

This is a two semester research sequence. In the first semester (spring 2024) we will cover the foundational knowledge that you will need in astronomy, programming, and data science. In summer we will be meeting virtually once a week. There will be reading assignments that we will discuss and online courses that we will complete. In the second semester (fall 2024) you will formulate a research problem, do a review of the work that has already been done, design a research plan and then execute that plan. The end goal will be a paper that you will present in class and submit for publication.

Research Goal

In this research stream, we will begin to understand the large-scale structure of the universe through a study of the distribution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies using algorithms developed in computational geometry and applying techniques in data analytics. The galaxy data will be obtained from the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED).

We will use computational geometry to obtain the size and center of clusters of galaxies and data analytics to determine member galaxies and outliers. We will compute the velocity dispersion of the clusters and their mass-to-light ratio. Specifically, one of the questions that we will try to answer is - are there interconnections between clusters and are the clusters themselves clustered to form superclusters? We will provide 3-dimensional maps of the distribution of galaxies.

Hybrid Lectures

Our lectures will be either in-person or delivered online on Zoom in Canvas. You will be given advanced notifications on what mode the lectures will be delivered. Attendance to the in-person lectures is mandatory. The online lectures will be recorded. The class recordings are confidential to the class and are only for educational purposes. The recordings must not be shared in any form. Any dissemination of the recordings is a violation of the University policies and will be subject to Student Misconduct proceedings through the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. Our office hours will not be recorded.

Research Journal

You will be maintaining a research journal where you record the work that you did that week. You will note what you accomplished that week, the problems that you encountered, the work that you plan to do the following week, and any other issues that you would like to discuss. All journal entries will be due on Sundays on Canvas for the whole year.

Quizzes

There will be quizzes every week. The quizzes will be short and will be based on your readings and the lecture material of the previous days. We will drop your lowest quiz scores.

Tests

There will be two tests - midterm (Thurs, 7 Mar 2024) and final (Thurs, 25 Apr 2024). The tests will be in class. The tests will have short answer questions in astronomy and programming. The final will be comprehensive.

Online Courses

Our research stream straddles many disciplines. We do not have a single textbook for our stream. We will use online courses in Coursera and LinkedIn Learning to fill the gaps in our knowledge. You will be given the units to complete and deadlines. There will be a late penalty for missed deadlines.

Assignments

There will be programming assignments in Python and in data science using Jupyter notebooks. You will also have assignments in astronomy using the sources of data as mentioned above as well as other sources of online data. These assignments will have deadlines with late penalty for missed deadlines.

Grades

Your performance in this class will be evaluated using your scores for the journal entries that you record, the quizzes we conduct in class, the two tests that you take, the online courses that you complete, and the assignments that you work on. The weights of each of these components are listed below. There are no extra credit projects or assignments to improve your grade. Other than the quiz scores, we do not drop any of the scores to compute the weighted average.

All scores will be entered on Canvas. Check your scores regularly on Canvas to make sure that we have entered them correctly. Remember the average score as shown on Canvas is not correct. It does not weight the average with weights as shown above. Your final grade will be assigned after we obtain the weighted average according to the weights as given above. Your grade will be based on the traditional scheme:

We do assign grades on the +/- system. But those finer cutoffs will be determined at the very end after the weighted average and standard deviation of the class are computed.

Study Groups

Do find a compatible person to work with in class. You will be working with a partner or in a group of at most three people. This does not preclude you from working with others in the class.

We will be using Ed Discussion that is integrated into Canvas for general discussion of class related questions. Ed Discussion will be monitored by our peer mentors. For informal discussions, like finding partners for projects, you will be using Discord for your posts. We expect your posts to be professional and courteous to every member in the class.

Your Responsibilities in This Class

University Time Table

General Policies

If you are absent from class for the observance of a religious holy day you may turn in your assignment or paper on an alternate date provided you have given me written notice fourteen days prior to the class absence. For religious holy days that fall within the first two weeks of class notice must be given on the first class day.

Students with disabilities who need special accommodations should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Office (471-6259 or 471-4641 TTY).