Teaching Team

Name Email
S. R. Sudarshan Iyengar (Instructor) sudarshan@iitrpr.ac.in
Sakshi Sharma (Head TA) sakshi.23csz0006@iitrpr.ac.in
Harshith Kumar Yadav 2023csz0002@iitrpr.ac.in
Rajtilak Pal 2022aim1010@iitrpr.ac.in
Mohd Arif Pandit mohd.22csz0017@iitrpr.ac.in
Utkarsh Suryaman 2022aim1015@iitrpr.ac.in
Piyush Aggarwal 2022aim1008@iitrpr.ac.in

Class Timings

  • Monday
    • 13:00 - 14:00
  • Tuesday
    • 13:00 - 14:00
  • Wednesday
    • 08:00 - 09:00 and 13:00 - 14:00

Introduction

Mathematical Foundations for Computing, aka Discrete Math, involves cherry picked bunch of topics from different branches of mathematics that aid in understanding computing at a fundamental level. While the syllabus for this subject from the past 4 decades mainly involved topics that helps a student understand subjects such as data structures and algorithms at a level deeper than concepts related to high level programming. But the past decade has changed the trajectory of computing from algorithms that can be executed on a computer to algorithms that can think, learn and infer. This has led to the distillation of the syllabus for this subject from various other mathematical ideas from physics and continuous mathematics. Our course will have a two fold approach: 1. We will incorporate all the modern ideas 2. We will take an applied approach to the subject without compromising on the rigour. The first few lectures will emphasize heavily on the foundations of set theory, logic, counting, graph theory, number theory, probability and comibnatorics. Once the students are comfortable with the basics, we will buckle up for a whirlwind tour of some of the great ideas that has taken the computing world on a storm. We will discuss about 20-25 ideas in computer science that are mathematically deep and have proven to be the milestones in the subject. We will start with the motivational questions, provide intuitive answers and supply rigorous reasoning to close the loop.

Expectations from the course

Our primary goal is to empower students with the essential skills to comprehend and navigate the intricate mathematical underpinnings of computer science. We emphasize a skill-based approach, which allows students to develop a deep understanding of the subject matter without resorting to rote memorization. The key to building confidence and proficiency in this subject lies in consistent practice; there are no shortcuts to mastering the art of problem-solving. To ensure your success, we strongly encourage regular attendance and active participation in the class, as well as diligent preparation for tests and quizzes.

Grading

You are gauranteed to get a grade based on your absolute total as described below :

Score Range Grade Number
95 and above 10
90 - 94 9
85 - 89 8
80 - 84 7
70 - 79 6
60 - 69 5
50 - 59 4
0 - 49 3

The instructor will strictly follow the above rule to assign grades based on absolute grading. There is a small possibility that the instructor may consider relative grading if the highest score doesn't cross an acceptable threshold. In that case, your grade will be the best of Relative Grade and Absolute Grade.

Evaluation

Evaluation - Track 1

Type   Marks
Quiz Involves short duration and straight forward questions in the beginning or at the end of the class 20
Test Will be descriptive type questions indicative of the difficulty level in the exams 20
Project Project will be a well defined problem, common for all. We will soon be notifying you of the details. 20
Minor Mid Term Exam (Open Book) 20
Major Final Exam (Open Book) 20
In Quizzes and Tests, we will consider the top 90% of the attempts.    

Evaluation - Track 2

Type   Marks
Minor Mid Term Theory Exam 50
Major Final Theory Exam 50

We will consider the maximum of Track 1 and Track 2.

Securing a Pass Grade

If you can finish the whole of graph theory videos (roughly around 6 hours) shared with you all and take up a viva-voce immediately after your mid term exam, you will be assured of atleast a D in the course.

Project

We will soon be announcing the details over an email and we will populate this section after that. You can check this space by the mid of Feb for further details.

Health of the Class

We will be maintaining a google sheet which will be updated after every class. In case the health crosses some pre-defined thresholds, there will be perks and incentives that the entire class will enjoy. The details on the points vs perks:

Points Rank Perks
60 or above Rank 6 Maximum of Track 1 and Track 2 will be considered
80 or above Rank 5 80 % of quiz and test will be considered
90 or above Rank 4 Track 3, which is only final exam marks. We will consider the best of three tracks
100 or above Rank 3 66.66% of quiz and test will be considered
120 or above Rank 2 bonus of 5 marks
140 or above Rank 1 Grade Upgrade

Note that a superior rank will include the perks of all the lower ranks too. For instance, if you are rank 1, then you will get the perks of all the 6 ranks. If you are rank 2, then you get the perks of rank 2-6 and so on.

Class Committee

The course committee will comprise of the following members:

Name Email
Navneet (Chair) 2023csb1137@iitrpr.ac.in
Dhruv Yadav 2023csb1118@iitrpr.ac.in
Sumit Singh 2023csb1166@iitrpr.ac.in
Gitansh Bansal 2023mcb1294@iitrpr.ac.in
Bhavika Sharma 2023mcb1290@iitrpr.ac.in
Hartik Arora 2022csb1314@iitrpr.ac.in