News
[12.10.2007] Finally, the grades are up. Check Buckeye Link to see how you fared. If you want to see / discuss your final, you're welcome to stop by next quarter; I'll keep the papers for a while. This quarter's been a lot of fun, and I hope you'll stay in touch. Have a good break.
[11.28.2007] Yes, the final should be in our usual classroom. No surprises there. As far as I can tell from the final exam schedule posted by the registrar, our final exam is on Monday, Dec. 3, from 11:30 AM until 1:18 PM. You lucked out! It's not at 7:30 in the morning! Also, I'm here later on today, at 2:30, if you have a question that won't wait until tomorrow.
[11.26.2007] One more thing concerning the final homework -- for the program, instead of printing it out, the best thing would just be to email me the program-- that way it'll be easier for me to test it and see if it works.
[11.18.2007] On Monday, we'll be finding the distances from points to planes, and other things like that, so the following pictures may be helpful:
[11.16.2007](2) Alright, the last homework of the quarter is posted; check the usual place. You'll notice that there is a programming project on there. It's relatively small, but I at least want you to be able to write an m-file by the time you get to 572. I'll talk a little bit about how to write a Matlab function on Monday, but you're also welcome to peruse this old tutorial that I wrote the last time I taught a linear course.
[11.16.2007] I got the tests graded; there were a mixed bag of results this time, too. The average stayed about the same as the first midterm, but the variation seemed higher. There were more Bs and less Ds, but a few more people failed by a wide margin. As there are a number of people with a wide gap between test grades so far (like an 81 and 25), I have decided to institute a policy that if you show improvement on the final exam, I'll replace your lowest midterm grade with your final exam grade. So if you get it together by the end, you can still salvage your grade. Hopefully this will stop people from giving up hope -- the main point is that I want you to keep working. Fair enough? Enjoy your weekend.
[11.11.2007] Check your OSU inboxes; on the request of a couple of your classmates, I have emailed out a solution set to the problems I assigned from Section 3.6. I hear almost none of those are in the back.
[11.9.2007] Ok, the test is Wednesday. Since there's no class on Monday, I have agreed to come in on Tuesday. I'll be in my office (MW 714) on Tuesday at 2:00, for at least an hour or so.
[11.8.2007] Ok, I've got exercises posted from sections 3.5 and 3.6 now. The test will cover all of chapter 3. Tomorrow I'll do some review.
[11.2.2007] Yeah, today's the day. If you're going to drop the course, you have to do it today. I know some of you are on the fence, and I'm not in a position to make the decision for you; I must maintain neutrality on such decisions. Find somebody whose opinion you value, and talk it over with them. Whether you stay or go, there are no hard feelings on this end. It's been fun so far, but I'll understand if you're not in a position to take a risk.
[11.1.2007] I need to point out a mistake in my notes; it was pointed out to me by one of your classmates that even if the Wronskian of a set of functions is identically zero, the functions may not be dependent, with the examples given usually involving the absolute value function in some respect. I haven't entirely wrapped my brain around the idea that a matrix can consistently have a zero determinant, but not be singular. Here is the loophole that I'm thinking might be violated: if the determinant of A(x) is zero for every value of x, then there is a solution to A(x) c = 0 for each x -- but they might not all be the same solution; in that way we could maybe avoid having a universal dependence relation. Either way, the punchline is this: on the homework, if you get a nonzero Wronskian, the vectors are independent, and you're done. If you get a zero determinant, you still don't know one way or the other, so in this case you should see if you can find a dependency relation.
[10.28.2007] The third homework is posted below; check the usual place. I was a little late getting this one assigned, so I'm not making it due until next Monday. But it's long, so you probably want to go ahead and start.
[10.21.2007] Ok, the tests are graded. I'll hand them back tomorrow. The average was a little bit low, but I'm holding off on any kind of a curve for now. Typically these things even themselves out over the course of the quarter.
[10.4.2007] I propose the following dates for our two midterms: Friday, October 19, and Wednesday, November 14.
[9.25.2007] I just got a message from one of your classmates that Matlab release 2007a is available for free for one-year course use for OSU students. You just have to bring a blank cd with a white print label (available from the bookstore at central campus) to the Office of Information Technology at Baker Systems Engineering building Room 512.
[9.13.2007] Welcome to Linear Algebra! This should be a fantastic course; linear is interesting stuff in its own right, and I never seem to stop running into its applications. This is the course I blame for starting the process that eventually turned me into a mathematician. There will be some Matlab programming in this course, but probably nothing huge. Things like office hours and the like can be determined in the first week or two of class. My office is room 714 in the math tower.
Assignments / Supplements
Assignment 0: get Matlab or Octave! These programs are there to make your life easier. Learning how to use them will only help you.
To get your mind wrapped around the material, but not hand in:
§ 3.1: # 10, 11, 15.
§ 3.2: # 1 - 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17.
§ 3.3: # 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17.
§ 3.4: # 2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 17.
§ 3.5: # 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10.
§ 3.6: # 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 16, 25.
§ 5.1: # 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 13.
§ 5.2: # 2, 3, 5, 6, 13.
§ 5.3: # 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11.
Watch this space...
To Hand In:
Homework 1 is due Monday, October 1.
Homework 2 is due Wednesday, October 10.
Homework 3 is due Monday, November 5.
Homework 4 is due Friday, November 30.
From the Leon Book:
Here are some of the assignemnts I'll make from Chapter 5, if you'd like to work ahead.
From the H&Z book:
Textbook Info
We have two textbooks in this course, Linear Algebra with Applications, 7th Edition, by Steven J. Leon, ISBN 0-13-185785-1, and Linear Algebra Labs with Matlab, 3rd Edition, by David R. Hill and David E. Zitarelli, ISBN 0-13-143274-5. I plan on covering most of chapters 1 - 3 and 5 of the Leon book.
Links
As there will be some programming assignments in the class, I'm looking into what access you have to Matlab outside our classroom. There's a good chance the Bookstores around here have a Student edition of Matlab that you can get at a significant discount. I have a student edition from years ago that I still use on a regular basis.
Furthermore, in line with my continuing quest to not pay for anything, there is also a free open-source clone of Matlab from GNU, called Octave, that should suit the needs of this course just fine. I got my copy from the GNU Octave Repository on SourceForge. If you're on windows, look for the link marked "octave-forge-windows." It looks like there is also a version available for Macs. In order to get the graphs to look right, you may need a PostScript interpreter; I recommend the combination of GhostScript and GSView for Windows Users. We shouldn't need too much of the graphics in this class, so this part is probably not necessary at the moment.
This calendar will tell you when some of the important dates for this semester are.
If you are more of a list person, you may want to use the List of Important Dates for Fall Quarter 2007.
The final exam schedule may also be a useful page.
The Math Counseling Office will probably have a good idea of how to help you with your scheduling or registration issues, or at least know where to send you.