We will cover substitution ciphers, discrete logarithms, Diffie-Hellman Key exchange, ElGamal and RSA and other
public key cryptosystems, probabilistic encryption, the Vigenere cypher, and
elliptic curve cryptography.
This will entail background in modular arithmetic, finite fields, quadratic residues, probability, complexity,
and elliptic curves.
Homework
There will be suggested homework problems for each class, which you are not required to
hand in, but it is suggested you do, as tests will draw heavily from these questions.
There will be four required homework assignments. Of the assigned problems, random problems
will be chosen for inspection and grading, the others will just be checked for completeness.
Students are encouraged to work together on figuring out and understanding homework, but are asked to
write homework up on their own. Students whose homework regularly resembles other student's homework
too closely risk losing marks for it.
Tests
The tests will be on Tuesday April 19 and Thursday June 9.
If there is a problem with this, let me know before April.
The test will draw mostly, but not entirely, from (suggested and required)
homework problems.
Evaluation
We will have four homework assignments a midterm test and a final test.
Homework and attendence (attendence monitored casually) will be worth 20% of your grade,
and each test will be worth %40.
Last Modified: Fri 13 Mar 2026 01:22:21 PM KST