2021-22 Catalog

The course explains the key concepts at the foundations of computing with physical substrates, including representations of numbers, Boolean algebra as an axiomatic system, Boolean functions and their representations, composition of functions and relations, implementing functions with circuits, circuit complexity, representation of computational processes with state diagrams, state diagrams as a composition of Boolean functions and memory, and the implementation of computational processes with finite state machines. The basic concepts covered in the course are connected to advanced topics like programming, computability, logic, complexity theory, information theory, and biochemical systems. Not offered on a pass/fail basis. Satisfies the menu requirement of the Caltech core curriculum. Not offered 2021-22.