Syllabus and Such: Advanced Algorithms (EECS 562)
Spring Semester, 1999

Prof. Robert H. Sloan
1132 SEO, Phone 6-2369

January 11, 1999

Class: Tuesday and Thursday, 4:00-5:15 p.m., 306 Adams Hall.
Instructor: Robert Sloan, 1132 SEO. Phone: 6-2369.
Email: sloan@eecs.uic.edu
Professor's office hours: Thursdays 9:30-11:30, and by appointment.

Note: Starting next year, this course is going to be cross listed with MCS 501. My understanding is that the Math department will automatically grant petitions asking for this semester's EECS 562 to be counted for MCS 501 (though you'll need to take that up with the Math dept., not me).

One good link: Every web document should have one good link to something in the outside world. Only one will suffice for me, because Steven S. Skiena, author of the fine book The Algorithm Design Manual (though it's really more of a reference, or companion to our text, than a main university text), has collected links to most of the world's on-line sources of algorithms information, as well as links to tons of implementations of almost all of the standard algorithms, and lots of other goodies into the Stony Brook Algorithm Repository.

  • Prerequisites
  • Textbook
  • Reading assignments
  • Grading
  • Collaboration
  • Course Outline
  • Some specific handouts, references, etc.

  • Problem Set 3 (postscript)
  • Problem Set 4 (postscript)
  • List of best known approximation results for various NP optimization problems
  • References for the final unit on cryptography

    General

  • Assigned reading on cryptography: Cryptography A-Z, sections Intro, Algorithms, and Standards.
  • RSA Labs FAQ is also a good source of information.

    Block ciphers, and especially DES

  • DES is (well, was until recently) an official government standard, and a completely detailed description is available in the official government description, FIPS PUB 46-2.
  • The successful cracking of DES by brute force.
  • The Block Cipher Lounge has some information on the current state of the art.

  • Prof. Robert H. Sloan, posted January 25, 1999; last update April 22