MATH 499 Cryptology
This course will offer an overview of the history of cryptology (both cryptography - writing in code - and cryptanalysis - code breaking) and the mathematics involved in the enterprise. Topics will include substitution and transposition ciphers, cryptanalysis of ciphers using probabilistic methods, and public-key encryption, including its number-theoretic underpinnings (prime factorization, Fermat's Little Theorem).Prerequisites: MATH 100 College Algebra or any math course numbered 200 or above, or placement into a math course numbered 200 or above.
The instructor will be David Yetter, and the text will be Introduction to Cryptology: The Science of Secret Writing by Thomas H. Barr, 2001, ISBN 013-088976-8.
This 3 credit course will be offered during the August Intersession August 2 - 17, 2004. The class will meet on MTWUF from 9:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in 146 Cardwell Hall on the K-State campus in Manhattan.
MATH 499 applies towards the B. S. in mathematics.