APMA1710

Fall 2011

Brown University

See the syllabus for general information.

See the schedule for details on homework, exams, lectures, and readings.

Instructor

Jeff Miller

(jeffrey miller at brown)

Office Hours: Monday 1:00-2:30pm, 180 George St., computer lab (just inside the entrance)

Teaching assistant

Reza Aghajani

(mohammadreza aghajani at brown)

Class Time/Location

The class will meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:00 am - 11:50 am, in Wilson 304.

Videos

As a supplement to the lectures, instructional videos on the course material are available to be watched outside of class time. You are encouraged to watch the videos on a given topic before the lecture on that topic, so that you can absorb the concepts at your own pace, and ask questions during class to clear up any points of confusion.

The videos for the course may be found here: Information Theory series

If you need to get up to speed on probability, video 1.S and the videos in sections 2-5 of the Probability Primer series are recommended.

Textbooks

The primary course textbook is Elements of Information Theory (2nd edition) by Cover and Thomas.

We will also use material from Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms by David MacKay. (Available for free download.)

Homework

There will typically be one homework assignment each week. Homework assignments will be a mix of mathematical exercises and programming exercises.

You may collaborate with your classmates on the assignments, however, each student must submit his/her own solutions. Your solutions should be submitted in hard copy (not electronically) in class. For programming exercises, submit a print out of the code you wrote. For other questions, your answers can be handwritten (they do not need to be typed).

Exams

There will be a midterm and a final exam.

Announcements

(none)