Graduate Special Topics in Computer Science

NOTE: for descriptions of standard graduate computer science courses, see Graduate Course Descriptions.

G22.3033-002 Timed & Hybrid Systems

This course will be similar to the Fall 2003 course, Models/Analysis of Real-Time/Hybrid Systems.

G22.3033-003 Geometric Modelling

The course will cover a range of topics related to subdivision surfaces, an important technique for computer representation of smooth surfaces used in a variety of applications in computer animation, computer-aided design and geometry processing. The topics will include an introduction to subdivision surfaces, overview of subdivision sch3emes, implementation of subdivision, deformations and boolean operations on subdivision surfaces, and other topics.

G22.3033-006 Distributed Storage Systems

See the course homepage for information.

G22.3033-007 What if a Computer Lies?

See the course homepage for information.

G22.3033-009 Topics in Automated Deduction

From very early on, philosophers have dreamed of machines that can reason. Leibniz first proposed the ambitious goal of mechanizing the process of human reasoning, saying, "Once this is done, then when a controversy arises, disputation will no more be needed between two philosophers than between two computers. It will suffice that, pen in hand, they sit down to their abacus and (calling in a friend if they so wish) say to each other: let us calculate."

In this course we look at automated deduction within the context of first-order logic. We cover automated theorem proving techniques like resolution and rewriting. We also look at first-order theories for which the decision problem is decidable. We will cover a variety of problem domains and techniques and will also look at some applications.

G22.3033-011 Production Quality Software

In this course students learn how to develop production quality software. Lectures present real-world development practices and sensitize students to the challenges of planning, designing, implementing, testing, and supporting non-trivial software applications. By examining code taken from open-source applications and from their own assignment solutions students learn to apply the techniques presented in lectures and readings to their own development projects and to collaborate with one another to become better software engineers.

G22.3033-012 Cryptographic Tools in Deployed Systems: What Does the Padlock Mean?

See the course homepage for a complete description.

When you give a web site that claims to be www.amazon.com your credit card number, how do you know that: (1) you are indeed talking to www.amazon.com and not some other web site that told your browser that it is www.amazon com, and (2) that nobody else between you and www.amazon.com overhears this interaction? There is probably a small padlock reassuring you of this. But what is actually happening "under the hood"? At the end of this course you will know this, and also will have detailed understanding of most fundamental cryptographically-based mechanisms currently deployed, with focus on the ones used on the Web

G22.3033-013 Exposure-Resilient Cryptography

The course studies the question of how to build cryptographic systems resilient to dramatic leakage of sensitive information, such as secret keys. In practice, attacks of this sort are, in many cases, more likely than attacks which directly "crack" the cryptographic assumptions on which the security of the scheme is based. And while at first glance it might appear that not much can be done to prevent or mitigate the damage caused by key exposure, the study of exposure-resilient cryptography has led to a variety of diverse and effective approaches for combating key exposure. Specific topics include forward-secure, key-insulated and intrusion-resilient cryptosystems, exposure-relilient functions and all-or-nothing transforms, secret sharing schemes and threshold cryptography, proactive security, bounded storage and bounded retrieval models, among others. The course will be accessible to master and PhD students with minimal cryptographic background.