Syllabus for Math 310 Numerical Analysis (UAF Fall 2009, Bueler)

Math 310 Numerical Analysis

Fall 2009, UAF

Instructor: Ed Bueler
Office: Chapman 301C. Office Hours.
Phone: 474-7693 eMail: elbueler@alaska.edu
Web Site: http://www.dms.uaf.edu/~bueler/

Time: MWF 10:30--11:30am
Place: Gruening 202
Text: Cheney & Kincaid, Numerical Analysis: Mathematics of Scientific Computing, 3rd ed. 2002

The Course: This course will introduce you to numerical analysis. You'll learn methods for solving the problems of applied mathematics on computers, and why those methods work. In particular, we will solve problems in calculus (especially integration), linear algebra problems, and differential equations. You will be expected to understand both the theory and the practice of numerical analysis.

We will use the mathematical programming language Matlab/Octave from the beginning, and on every assignment. And there will be a relatively modest project at the end of the semester. For both the project and homework you will be expected to turn numerical algorithms into functioning programs.

A combination of lectures and homework together make up the core of the class, and getting the most out of both of these is your responsibility. You are expected to ask questions in class about recent lectures or homework assignments.

Exams, Homework, and Grade:

60% of your grade will be determined by exams and a project:

20%
10%
30%

Midterm Exam
Project
Final Exam

Monday, 2 Nov (one hour, in class)
Due Friday, Dec 11
Friday, 18 Dec, 10:15am--12:15pm
(two hours)

40% of the grade will be determined by approximately 10 graded homework assignments. These will combine book exercises and the use of Matlab/Octave to do examples.

The course grade will be determined by points on the exams and homework, according to the schedule at right --->

The schedule represents a guarantee. I will use plus/minus grades as illustrated. Percent
93 - 100 %
90 - 92 %
87 - 89 %
82 - 86 %
79 - 81 %
76 - 78 %
71 - 75 %
68 - 70 %
65 - 67 %
60 - 64 %
57 - 59 %
0 - 56 %
Grade
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Prerequisite: Calculus through Math 202 Calculus III, plus either Math 302 Differential Equations or Math 314 Linear Algebra. The catalog also says "knowledge of programming" is recommended, and that is true. In any case you must be willing and able to start learning Matlab/Octave immediately; that turns out to be pretty easy for most students.

Matlab/Octave tutorial: I don’t assume that you are familiar with Matlab/Octave already. It is easy to learn, even if you have little experience programming. Matlab/Octave has an interpreted environment with straightforward plotting and data viewing commands, but it really excels at making vector and matrix operations very easy. For the first few weeks of the course I will offer a tutorial in class to help you get started. The true programming content of this class is small. An elementary understanding of loops ("for" loops) and conditionals ("if" statements) and functions/procedures is what is needed. However, for both the project and homework you will be expected to turn numerical algorithms into functioning programs. See www.math.uaf.edu/~bueler/MatlabEx.htm for a brief online tutorial and links to more.

Getting Matlab/Octave:

Matlab is available in a fully-functional student version ($99 direct from Mathworks at www.mathworks.com/products/studentversion ). UAF has a site license so Matlab can be installed for free on any university machine, and it is already available in some locations on campus. (Apparently you have to call OIT to get it put on such computers: 450-8300.)
Octave is free. It is not quite as capable as Matlab, but I now use it for my professional work. Get it, and documentation, at http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/. In particular, binaries for Windows and MacOSX are at http://octave.sourceforge.net/, while Linux folks should probably just get it through a package manager as usual.

Supplementary text: The regular textbook Cheney & Kincaid, Numerical Analysis: Mathematics of Scientific Computing has some advantages. These include its $77 price through the bookstore, compared to about $200 for the alternatives. But it is also a bit to mathy. The textbook I would want for this course would interpolate between Cheney&Kincaid and a very nice, easy book by Moler which is free: C. Moler, Numerical Computing with Matlab is at http://www.mathworks.com/moler/index_ncm.html. You can download individual chapters as PDF. (Or you can buy a copy through SIAM Press.) Furthermore we will use some of the programs at

NCM Matlab codes: http://www.mathworks.com/moler/ncmfilelist.html

Policies: The Department of Mathematics and Statistics has reasonable policies on incompletes, late withdrawals, early final examinations, etc. See www.dms.uaf.edu/dms/Policies.html. You are covered by the UAF Student Code of Conduct. I will work with the Office of Disabilities Services (203 WHIT, 474-7043) to provide reasonable accommodation to student with disabilities.

Makeup exams: I will create makeup versions of the Midterm Exam if necessary, provided you have a convincing reason for me to do so and you let me know at least two class days before the exam.

Instructor absence: I will be teaching a short course in Italy in the first two weeks, so Math 310 will really start Friday 25 September. We will together find an additional hour per week for the remainder of the semester, at which your attendance is required, for homework and programming help.