Logic for Computer Science

Semester: Even
Instructor: Sujata Ghosh
Meeting Times : Wednesdays, Fridays 9:15 - 11:00 am
First Class: Wednesday, January 07, 2026
Location: Online

Email: sujata AT isichennai DOT res DOT in
Office Hours: By Arrangement (please send an e-mail)

Email: saptarshi AT isichennai DOT res DOT in
Office Hours: By Arrangement (please send an e-mail)

Course Description: This course can be considered as an introductory course on mathematical logic with theoretical computer science in mind. We will deal with both model-theoretic and proof-theoretic techniques. We will also give an introduction to logics of computation and connections with algorithms and complexity. The complete syllabus of the course can be found here.

This course is also about building up mathematical maturity, e.g., how to read and write mathematics, especially mathematical proofs, and how to communicate mathematics.

Pre-requisites (for M.Tech. (CS) students): A course on Discrete Mathematics.

Text book(s): The main text books for the course include A mathematical introduction to logic by H.B. Enderton, and A course on mathematical logic by S.M. Srivastava.

Some other books which might prove to be helpful are Logic for computer science by M. Huth and M. Ryan, Mathematical logic for computer science by M. Ben-Ari, Modal Logic by P. Blackburn, M. de Rijke and Y. Venema, and Modal Logic for open minds by J. van Benthem.

Grades are based on mid-semester examination (20%), home assignments (20%), project (10%) and end-semester examination (50%). The home assignments would include sets of homework which will be uploaded here at regular intervals, and algorithmic questions. The projects would be decided along the way depending upon the interests, and the deadline for submission will be one week after the end-semester examination.

The latex template for the project can be found here.