Fall 2008 Math 430: Formal Logic I

Course Meeting: 11:00am MWF in room 133 in BSB. Call Number: 26522
Instructor: Alice Medvedev
Office: 716 SEO
Office Hours: W12-2 and T2:30-3:30 in SEO 716
Office phone: 312-413-9578
E-mail: alice@math.uic.edu
course webpage: http://www.math.uic.edu/~alice/math430F08

Homework Assignments

You may work together on homework problems (and I encourage you to do so), but you should write your solutions yourself and acknowledge that you have worked together, i.e. write on the solutions you hand in "I worked with John Lee on problem 3, and with Jane Jones on problems 2 and 4."

Problem Set 0, due Friday, August 29th
Problem Set 1, due Friday, September 5th
Problem Set 2, due Friday, September 12th
Problem Set 3, due Friday, September 19th
Problem Set 4, due Friday, September 26th
Propositional Logic review questions
Problem Set 5, due Wednesday, October 8th
Problem Set 6, due Monday, October 13
A take-home midterm will be handed out in class on Wednesday, October 15, due Monday, October 20.
Problem Set 7, due Friday, October 24th
Problem Set 8, NEW CORRECTED VERSION due Friday, October 31th
In-Class Worksheet, November 3-7
Problem Set 9, due Monday, Novermber 10th
Problem Set 10, due Monday, Novermber 17th
Problem Set 11, due Monday, Novermber 24th
A final exam will take place during our last lecture, on Friday, December 5th.
Final Project, with many tiny deadlines starting Thanksgiving week.

Grading: The 12 problem sets are the bulk of your grade.
The first midterm grade replaces 3 lowest of the 6 grades on problem sets 1-6.
There will be an in-class, 1-hour final exam on the last day of classes, Friday, December 5th. It will be similar to the midterm. The grade on the final will replace between 1 and 3 (whichever helps you most) of the 6 grades, on problem sets 0 and 7-11.
A poor final project will lower your course grade by one letter. A satisfactory final project will drop your A to a B, and otherwise leave your course grade unchanged. An excellent final project will raise your course grade by one letter, and is required for an A. Description: A first course in mathematical logic. We study the syntax and the semantics of several logics, starting with the simplest, propositional logic, and culminating in first-order logic. Our goal is to prove Godel's theorems on the Completeness and Compactness of first-order logic.

Prerequisites: Officially, a grade of C or better in CS 202 or in MCS 261 or in MATH 215.
Really, an interesrt in formal logic and the ability to write proofs.

Text: I intend to follow Logic for Mathematics and Computer Science by Stanley N. Burris fairly closely. The textbook should be available in the UIC bookstore.

Content: Staying away from the computational aspect of the textbook, we shall cover sections 2.1-2.9, 3.1-3.10, and 5.1-5.11, more or less depending on the pace of the course. If time permits, I will talk a bit about relational first-order languages instead of chapter 4, as a way of easing the transition to full first-order logic.

Grading: There will be weekly problem sets. You may work together on homework problems (and I encourage you to do so), but you should write your solutions yourself and acknowledge that you have worked together. There will be a midterm exam of some form on some date, and there will be a final exam. The final exam slot for this class is 10:30-12:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11.
Last updated 08/23/2008