Instructor Information:

Corinne Sheridan

Email: csheridan@math.cornell.edu

Office: Malott 210

Office Hours: Monday 1:30 – 2:30 pm, Wednesday 9:30-10:30 am, and by appointment

TA Information:

Andrew Marshall

Email: alm255@cornell.edu

Office Hours: Malott 256, Tuesday 10-11 am, Thursday 1-2 pm, and by appointment time TBD

Course Information:

Class: MTWThF 11:30 – 12:45, Malott 206

Extra Help: Math tutors available Sun - Thurs. in the Carol Tatkon Center Room 3343 from 7 - 9:30 pm.

PDF of the Syllabus (the information on this page).

Daily Schedule           Practice Prelim          Practice Prelim Solutions               Practice Final          Practice Final Solutions

          NIST Website

Purpose of the Course:
In the “Art of Secret Writing”, students will delve into the field of cryptology, the study of writing and breaking codes.  Many students do not have the opportunity to see mathematics as something beyond algebra and calculus.  This course allows them not only to learn mathematical principles but also to understand the concepts behind a topic that may have seemed mysterious before.  As this course is independent of calculus and other college math courses, it is accessible to both non-majors and majors alike.   In the first part of the course, we will examine some ciphers (code systems) used in the past, to begin to see the logic and reasoning behind a cipher.  We will pair a cipher to the introduction of a mathematical principle that it uses to encode and decode messages.  These principles will help us to understand the more current code systems being used today.

Course Description:

Math 1350 will investigate classical and current methods of message encryption and decryption, as well as analyze the strength of various cryptosystems.  In examining the different methods, mathematical concepts such as modular arithmetic, matrix arithmetic, probability and number theory will be developed.  The history and key figures in the field will also be discussed.

This course will require several years of high school mathematics, in particular algebra, and is an alternative to calculus to fulfill the math requirement for many majors.  The course will meet for 75 minutes every day for six weeks.

Textbook:

Invitation to Cryptology, by Thomas H. Barr, Prentice Hall, 2002.

Supplementary texts (not required):
Cryptological mathematics, by R.E. Lewand, Mathematical Association of America, 2000.

(on reserve in the Math Library)
Introduction to cryptography, by J.A. Buchmann, Springer-Verlag, 2001.

(limited preview on Google Books)

Goals:

1. Build confidence in mathematical reasoning abilities.

2. Strengthen analytical thinking skills.

3. Improve mathematical communication skills.

4. Learn to work in pairs and groups to encourage and assist fellow students.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Discuss several types of classical cryptosystems and their different features.

2. Recognize and compute modular arithmetic.

3. Decode a shift cipher, a substitution cipher, and a Hill cipher.

4. Identify probabilistic principles and apply them to the cryptographic processes.

5. Explain the foundations of public-key cryptography.

6. Create a new cipher and encode a message.

7. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of fellow students' ciphers.

Format of Class and Expectations

Classes will be a combination of discussion, lecture, group activities, and class-wide activities.  There will be weekly quizzes in class and weekly homework assignments.  Students are strongly encouraged to work on the homework assignments throughout the week, as this course is condensed from a semester-long course meeting two to three times a week, to a 6-week course meeting every day.  The material will be more difficult if you do not spend time every day on the homework assignment and reading.

I expect students to complete the reading and problem set assignments, participate in class, and show respect to their classmates and myself.  The classroom will be treated as a learning environment, where questions and student contributions are encouraged and appreciated.