Note: We will meet M, T, Th, F every week except May 12-16. We will meet M, Tu, WED, Th that week so that you may attend the Student Research Symposium on Friday May 16.
Dr. V's Contact Information:
Office: Hentschke 203B
Office Hours: MTThF 1-2. Others by appointment or luck.
Phone: x3114
E-mail: tamara_veenstra@redlands.edu
Web: http://newton.uor.edu/facultyfolder/tamara_veenstra
Teaching Assistant and Cryptanalysis Consultant: James Graham
Prerequisite: Grade of 1.7 or higher in MATH 122 (2.7 or higher strongly recommended) . In particular, you should be comfortable with algebraic manipulations.
Texts: REQUIRED: Barr's 'Invitation to Cryptology'
RECOMMENDED: Singh's 'The Code Book' (focuses more on historical background &endash; it's a great read and I highly recommend it, but you won't officially be tested on this material. You might look for the paperback version.)
Technology: We are likely to use some computer programs. Some assignments will be due over email. HW assignments are posted on my web site.
Optional: Movie nights will occur every Tuesday night at 7:30 pm (at my house unless we need more room.) They will, of course, be movies having something to do with mathematics.
Course Objectives:
Course Content:
In this course, we will study the mathematics behind encrypting and decrypting secret messages. We will primarily follow a historical approach, beginning with the simplest methods of encoding messages, and work up to some of the more complicated present day cryptographic systems, which are used in web and electronic security. We will also discuss methods of breaking these codes and which ones are secure. Mathematics has played an important role in developing and breaking codes. We will study a variety of mathematical topics (matrices, modular arithmetic and a bit of other number theory, and some probability and statistics) as necessary to understand these codes.
Grading: Your grade will be based on the following categories: attendance/participation (10%), daily homework ( 15% ) quizzes (25%), exams (25% each).
Attendance and Participation: We will cover a huge amount of material in each 3-hour class session. Thus attendance is required and will be a part of your grade. If you are sick or have some other dire emergency you may excuse up to two absences by calling or emailing me before 2 pm on the day you miss class. You are still responsible for any material that is covered during your absence and must get and complete the homework assignment for the next class. You must also actively participate in class to receive full credit in this category. Required participation includes putting problems on the board, working on in-class activities, and generally behaving in a way that maintains and supports a good learning environment.
Daily Homework: There will be daily assignments. I will check these at the beginning of class while students are putting these problems on the board. I will sometimes call on people at random and sometimes take volunteers. These HW checks will be graded on a how many of the problems you have attempted. (That is, effort based, not correctness based.) You should, of course, make sure you understand how to do them all before any quizzes. Since the HW is discussed at the beginning of class, late HW is not very useful. However, I will excuse up to two late HW's if they are shown to me the next day.
Quizzes: There will be quizzes every 2-3 days. There may also be some pop quizzes. No makeup quizzes will be given.
Exams: There will be a midterm exam and a cumulative final exam. The final exam will take place on Thursday May 29, 9-12. The midterm will probably be Wednesday May 14. No makeup exams will be given.
Academic Honesty Policy: Academic honesty is expected of all students. You should read this policy in the catalog. Specifically, you are encouraged to discuss any material in this class with your peers. However, all write-ups and tests should be your own work.
Schedule: An approximate schedule is below.
Week 1 (Th,F): Monoalphabetic and basics of cryptography (2.1-2.4 Barr, Ch 1 Singh)
Week 2 (M,T,Th,F): Polyalphabetic ciphers, Hill cipher, Playfair cipher (2.5-2.9 of Barr, Ch 2 of Singh).
Week 3 (M,T,W,Th): Public Key Cryptography (Ch 4 of Barr, Ch 6-7 of Singh)
Week 4 (M,T,Th,F): Computational issues and symmetric ciphers (especially DES) (Ch 3, Barr)
Week 5 (M,T): Current issues in cryptography, course summary (Ch 5 of Barr, Ch 8 of Singh)
First homework assignment due Friday May 2 by 9am.
1) Email me your answers to the following questions:
- What's your name? (as you wish to be called) What year are you?
- Where are you from? (city and state)
- What are you (thinking of) majoring in and why?
- What math courses have you taken so far at Redlands?
- Why are you taking this course? What do you hope to learn in it?
- Construct a metaphor for mathematics (as you see it). For example, if math were an animal what would it be? Explain why you chose your metaphor.
- Please tell me anything you think I should know about you, and/or anything you'd like to tell me about yourself.
- Is there anything you'd like to know about me?
2) Read Section 2.1 of Barr and do 2.1(1-6, 11-15).
3) BONUS Problems:
a) Decode the first cipher in Singh's challenge, p. 353. Turn in just the last sentence.
b) Solve an online cryptogram at http://www.dnadraw.com/crypt/ or
http://www.pacificnet.net/~tgrupe/crypto2.shtml