MATH 4575 — Introduction to Cryptography
4 semester hoursUndergraduateLectureusually offered: fall, springtypical days: WBostonTraditional
Presents the mathematical foundations of cryptology, beginning with the study of divisibility of integers, the Euclidian Algorithm, and an analysis of the Extended Euclidian Algorithm. Includes a short study of groups, semigroups, residue class rings, fields, Fermat’s Little Theorem, Chinese Remainder Theorem, polynomials over fields, and the multiplicative group of residues modulo a prime number. Introduces fundamental notions used to describe encryption schemes together with examples, which include affine linear ciphers and cryptanalysis and continues with probability and perfect secrecy. Presents the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and culminates in the study of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), the standard encryption scheme in the United States since 2001.
Prerequisites
Offering history
| Term | Sections | Enrolled | Capacity | Full | Open seats/section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | 1 | 17 | 28 | 61% | 11.0 |
| Fall 2024 | 1 | 11 | 28 | 39% | 17.0 |
| Spring 2025 | 1 | 13 | 35 | 37% | 22.0 |
| Fall 2025 | 1 | 15 | 35 | 43% | 20.0 |
| Spring 2026 | 1 | 11 | 35 | 31% | 24.0 |
Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.
Meeting times
Share of recent sections by weekday: M 0% · T 19% · W 64% · Th 16% · F 42%
Common patterns: WF (42% of sections), W (22% of sections), T (19% of sections), R (16% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday
Professors
Fall
- Oana Veliche (100% of students) · reviews
Spring
- Oana Veliche (100% of students) · reviews
Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.
Unlocks
Courses that list MATH 4575 in their prerequisites.
Links
Official catalog (MATH course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All MATH courses · Plan it at numap.app