Course outline: COMP3152/COMP9152 Comparative Concurrency Semantics (Session 1, 2008)

Instructors: Prof. Ron van der Meyden

Prerequisites: The official prerequisites are COMP2011 or COMP2711 or COMP291. However, prior exposure to concurrent systems and/or logic will enhance your appreciation of the material.

Credit value, Mode of Instruction: 6UOC, 3L

Text:
Reasoning about Knowledge, Ronald Fagin, Joseph Y. Halpern, Yoram Moses and Moshe Y. Vardi, plus selected readings from the literature.

Course Aims

This edition of the course will focus on reasoning about knowledge, a branch of modal logic for concurrent systems. It aims to give students an introduction to this area and a working facility with its basic concepts. The idea that system components have states of "knowledge" is ubiquitous in informal discussions of distributed algorithms, robotics, multi-agent systems and reasoning about computer security. The modal logic of knowledge is an approach to making such intuitions mathematically precise, so that they form the basis for rigorous reasoning about such systems. Of particular interest is the question of how knowledge changes over time, as information is communicated in the system. That this is a subtle matter is well-known to players of card games...

The course will be of interest to students wishing to study distributed computing, artificial intelligence or computer security.

Student Learning outcomes

At the end of the course you will have a good understanding of how logical tools may be applied to the study of information flow in concurrent and multi-agent systems. The course contributes in particular to the following UNSW graduate attributes: The course contents represent an interdiscplinary area of knowledge, drawing on computer science, philosophical logic and economics. Homework will develop analytical reasoning and problem solving skills.

Topics covered

The area of the course is one that is being actively pursued in research at UNSW --- see (R. van der Meyden, publications by area) and (The MCK model checker) --- and the course will open up opportunities for honours and postgraduate research projects in the area.

Assessment:

Written Homework, due weeks 2,4,6,8,10,12. Final grade to be computed from best 5/6 homeworks, each worth 20% of the final grade.

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

Assignment solutions submitted must be your own work. Students are reminded that they are bound by the CSE Yellow form policies concerning plagiarism, special consideration and supplementary assessment.

Course Schedule & Resources for Students

See schedule of lectures and recommended reading.

Course Evaluation and Development

Student survey results collected at the end of this course will be taken into consideration for future editions.