Math 309A Winter 2011: Linear Analysis

Instructor: James King

Email: king@u.washington.edu Office: Padelford C440 Phone: 543-1915

Office Hours: Tues 2-3 and by appointment

Class Webpage: http://www.math.washington.edu/~king/coursedir/m309w11/

Class Email List: Email from this list will be sent to you with announcements. A test announcement will be sent the first week.

Nature and purpose of the Course: The catalog description of this course says this: "First order systems of linear differential equations, Fourier series and partial differential equations, and the phase plane."

What the description does not say is that this course is a sequel to Math 307 and Math 308 that uses a lot of material from each. So most students find they need to review topics from linear algebra or differential equations even if they have taken those courses recently. But in this course the same topics come back with complex numbers. And then there are exciting applications to boundary value problems and Fourier series, one of the most important applied and theoretical topics in math.

Textbook and other resources: Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems by Boyce-DiPrima (9th ed.). The course will cover most of Chapters 7 and 10 and some of 9. There is a special shorter version of the text with the chapters for 309 in case a student does not have the text already from Math 308.

Tests: There will be two midterms: Midterm #1 will be on Monday 1/31, essentially on Chapter 7. Midterm #2 will be on Friday 2/25. There will also be occasional quizzes (announced in advance) and occasional short in-class assessments (not announced in advance). The latter are for the instructor to get a sense of how the class is doing but also provide information for students on how they are doing.

Calculators and notes: Graphing calculators are not allowed on exams. Non-graphing, scientific calculators are allowed, and you will be expected to have a calculator during exams. The use of other electronic devices is not allowed during exams. A single, hand-written 8.5 × 11 inch sheet of notes is allowed during exams. You may write on one side only.

Make-up exams and quizzes will not be given except in extreme circumstances (severe illness, traffic accident, etc.), and will require documentation. If you miss an exam due to such an event, contact me as soon as possible. If you know before the fact that a conflict may cause you to miss an exam, inquire about options well in advance.

Homework and in-class work: With the need to review and then a lot of important and challenging new material, it is essential to do a lot of problems. Homework will be assigned about once a week, typically due on Wednesdays. There may also be some online WebQs as well.

Catalyst Discussion Board: There will be a discussion board where students can discuss questions about homework etc. More later.

Grading Formula: Homework and Quizzes: 25% – Midterm 20% each – Final Exam 35%.