Description and goals:

An introduction to Linear Algebra with dual emphasis on theoretical and computational aspects. The presentation begins with the age-old problem of solving systems of linear equations, which motivates the introduction of matrices, which in turn leads to the basic notions of vector spaces and linear maps between them.

Picture: C. F. Gauss undergoes a linear transformation

My webpage: Saeed Zakeri

My email:

Text and References

WebAssign

Course Syllabus

Announcements:

• 4/1: As mentioned in class today, review II and midterm II have been pushed back to the week after our spring break. So we'll have a review session on Tuesday 4/22 and a midterm on Thursday 4/24 (no, it's not April Fools'). I'll post a review sheet here next week.

• 3/20: Check out this short note on comparing sizes of independent and spanning sets. This key statement was used to check that any two bases for a subspace must have the same size.

• 3/17: Midterm 1 grade distribution.

• 3/13: Check out the midterm 1 solutions (password protected; I've sent the password to your college email).

• 3/2: Here is the first midterm review sheet containing a few practice problems. I'll discuss these problems during the review session on 3/11 but make sure you think about them ahead of time.

• 2/5: Here is a short proof of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.

• 1/28: Welcome!

General Information and Ground Rules:

• Class lecture meetings are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:40 - 3:30PM in Kiely 320.

• Homework is an absolutely essential part of this course. You cannot master the course material without solving many problems consistently throughout the semester. This course uses WebAssign, an online homework management system.

• The exams are scheduled as follows:
  
  

  Midterm 1	Midterm 2	Final
  Thursday March 13 (in class)	Thursday April 24 (in class)	TBA

• Course grade is based on the following scheme:
  
  

  Assignments	Two Midterms	Final Exam
  20%	25% each	30%

• The prerequisite for this course is MATH 141 or MATH 151 with a minimum grade of C-. In the absence of this prerequisite, you should not be enrolled in this class. Please contact the Math Department office and seek advice.

• If a midterm exam is missed because of a documented illness or valid emergency, the course grade will be determined on the basis of the other work done during the semester. Exams missed for other reasons will count as failures. In any case, there will be no make up exam.

• At the end of the semester, everyone who has not withdrawn from the class will receive a grade. Incompletes will not be given to avoid F's.