Online courses directory (2511)

Modern computing platforms provide unprecedented amounts of raw computational power. But significant complexity comes along with this power, to the point that making useful computations exploit even a fraction of the potential of the computing platform is a substantial challenge. Indeed, obtaining good performance requires a comprehensive understanding of all layers of the underlying platform, deep insight into the computation at hand, and the ingenuity and creativity required to obtain an effective mapping of the computation onto the machine. The reward for mastering these sophisticated and challenging topics is the ability to make computations that can process large amount of data orders of magnitude more quickly and efficiently and to obtain results that are unavailable with standard practice.

This class is a hands-on, project-based introduction to building scalable and high-performance software systems. Topics include performance analysis, algorithmic techniques for high performance, instruction-level optimizations, cache and memory hierarchy optimization, parallel programming, and building scalable distributed systems.

The course also includes design reviews with industry mentors, as described in this MIT News article.

Traditionally, progress in electronics has been driven by miniaturization. But as electronic devices approach the molecular scale, classical models for device behavior must be abandoned. To prepare for the next generation of electronic devices, this class teaches the theory of current, voltage and resistance from atoms up. To describe electrons at the nanoscale, we will begin with an introduction to the principles of quantum mechanics, including quantization, the wave-particle duality, wavefunctions and Schrödinger's equation. Then we will consider the electronic properties of molecules, carbon nanotubes and crystals, including energy band formation and the origin of metals, insulators and semiconductors. Electron conduction will be taught beginning with ballistic transport and concluding with a derivation of Ohm's law. We will then compare ballistic to bulk MOSFETs. The class will conclude with a discussion of possible fundamental limits to computation.

6.803/6.833 is a course in the department's "Artifical Intelligence and Applications" concentration. This course is offered both to undergraduates (6.803) and graduates (6.833). 6.803/6.833 is designed to help students learn about progress toward the scientific goal of understanding human intelligence from a computational point of view. This course complements 6.034, because 6.803/6.833 focuses on long-standing scientific questions, whereas 6.034 focuses on existing tools for building applications with reasoning and learning capability. The content of 6.803/6.833 is largely based on papers by representative Artificial Intelligence leaders, which serve as the basis for discussion and assignments for the course.

This course considers the interaction between law, policy, and technology as they relate to the evolving controversies over control of the Internet. In addition, there will be an in-depth treatment of privacy and the notion of "transparency" -- regulations and technologies that govern the use of information, as well as access to information. Topics explored will include:

• Legal Background for Regulation of the Internet
• Fourth Amendment Law and Electronic Surveillance
• Profiling, Data Mining, and the U.S. PATRIOT Act
• Technologies for Anonymity and Transparency
• The Policy-Aware Web