Spring 2018

 

15827:  Special Topics in Cryptography: Introduction to Cryptography

 

Instructor:

Vipul Goyal

 

 

Time:

TR 3pm – 4:20pm

Location:

GHC 4101

Contact:

Vipul at cmu.edu

Important: When sending me an email about the course, make sure your title starts with "[Teach]" (without the quotes).

 

Course Description

 

This course is an introduction to cryptography course. It is cross-listed with 15-503. The course is open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

 

Course Website: Please see the course website for 15-503. All the class material will only be maintained on that website.

 

 

Fall 2017

15827:  Special Topics in Cryptography: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

 

Instructor:

Vipul Goyal

 

 

Time:

F 1:30pm – 4:20pm

Location:

GHC 4215

Contact:

Vipul at cmu.edu

Important: When sending me an email about the course, make sure your title starts with "[Teach]" (without the quotes).

 

Course Description

 

Course Focus: Blockchains and Cryptocurrencies. We will discuss the current state of art and future challenges. 

 

This is a seminar course on Cryptography. No prior background in cryptography is assumed. However, students should have mathematical maturity and be comfortable working with definitions and proofs.

 

The course will primarily consist of discussing a set of research papers published in Cryptography conferences over the last few years. Focus will be on understanding the key ideas and identifying cool new directions or problems for future. The students will be required to read up a paper and give a presentation in the class. The papers will be selected so as to minimize the required background. If you are not a Ph.D. student and still would like to take the course (because e.g. you have special interest in cryptography or cybersecurity), please email the instructor with as much detail about your background and interests as possible.


Grading

 

There will be no final exam. The grade will depend on: 1) the quality of presentation you give in the class (and how well you understand the paper), and, 2) participation in the other presentations in class. Extra points for coming up with any interesting original comment / observation on any of the papers.


List of Papers

 

Following is a list of papers we plan to cover in the class. More papers will be added as we go on:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VSOr8Nueo1doqNTwnm-yijCxiipms3yHM8PwSjevJlg/edit

 

 

 

Useful Books and Lecture Notes

 

There is no required or prescribed textbook for the course. Here are some general resources for background on cryptography: