Math 251,
Topics in Applied Mathematics
251 is a course
whose topic may change from year to year. Students may elect 251 more
than once.
251A Fall 2005:
Cryptology
and Coding Theory: The Mathematics of Secure and Reliable Communication
Cryptography, the
science of developing "secret codes" or
ciphers for secure and confidential communication, is essential
to both e-commerce and military operations. Cryptology includes
the study of both cryptography and cryptanalysis, the breaking of
ciphers. Coding theory consists of mathematical techniques for
detecting and correcting errors that occur during data
transmission. These topics are critical to information exchange
today. Through this exploration into the technical, social, and
historical aspects of cryptology and coding theory, students will
learn and extensively use basic concepts from number theory,
finite field and ring theory, matrix algebra, and the software
package MAGMA. Highlighted topics include the RSA cryptosystem,
digital signatures, DES, linear and cyclic codes, Reed-Solomon
codes, and the McEliece cryptosystem.
Prerequisite: Math 116 or the equivalent; or CS 230 and permission of
instructors
Distribution: Mathematical Modeling
This course will be taught at Wellesley College, by Prof. Gordon
Pritchett (Babson) and Prof. Sarah Spence (Olin)
251B Spring 2006:
Operations Research
This course studies the
algebraic and geometric foundations of
optimization and its applications to decision making in private
and public sector management. We will study linear and integer
programming, i.e., maximizing and minimizing linear functions
whose variables must satisfy linear equations or inequalities,
and where we may also require that the variables be integers.
Applications will be selected from mathematical models in such
areas as production, inventory, scheduling, investment, harvesting,
transportation, and distribution. Small-scale problems will be solved
by hand, and larger-scale problems by computer. The theoretical
level will be similar to 206, but students will do fewer proofs
and more modeling. Math 251 counts toward the mathematics
major/minor as an elective. Majors can fulfill the major
presentation requirement in this course in 2005-06.
Prerequisite: 206 or permission of the instructor
Distribution: Mathematical Modeling
Previous
topics have included Advanced Statistics, Operations
Research, Statistical Quality Control, Partial Differential Equations,
Mathematical Modeling, and Introduction to Numerical Analysis.
- Megan
Kerr mkerr@wellesley.edu
- Department
of Mathematics
- Date
Created: November 3, 1995
- Last
Modified: June 28, 2005
- Expires:
June 30, 2006