This course will
introduce you to numerical analysis. You'll learn methods for
solving certain problems of
applied mathematics on computers, and why those methods work. We
will reconsider and solve problems in calculus, linear algebra, and
equations, and in areas that are new to you.
You will be expected to understand both the
theory and the practice of numerical analysis. Both theory and practice will be
learned through lecture, homework and exams. Some problems will
ask you to explain a concept and some to demonstrate an
idea by a short hand
calculation. We will use the mathematical programming
language Matlab (or the free equivalent Octave) from the beginning, and on every
assignment. On the homework
you will be expected to turn
numerical algorithms into functioning programs.
A combination of lectures and homework together make up
core of the class. Getting the most out of both of these is your
responsibility. I have a responsibility to make them worth your
time. You should ask questions in class,
about the lecture content and about homework assignments.
Exams, Homework, and Grade: 60% of your grade will
be determined by in-class, closed-book exams:
|Friday, Oct. 26 (in-class)
Friday, Dec. 14, 10:15 am--12:15 pm (in-class)
40% of the
grade will be determined by approximately 10 graded homework
assignments. These will combine book exercises
and, as stated above, use
|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.
93 - 100 %
90 - 92 %
87 - 89 %
82 - 86 %
79 - 81 %
76 - 78 %
68 - 75 %
65 - 67 %
60 - 64 %
57 - 59 %
0 - 56 %
(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,
but your knowledge can be pretty shallow. But you must not be afraid
to start playing with short programs from the first day. You must
be willing and able to start learning Matlab
immediately. This turns out to be pretty easy for students who take
responsibility for it immediately.
I do not assume that
you are familiar with Matlab
already. It has an interpreted environment with straightforward
plotting and data viewing commands. It really excels at making
vector and matrix operations easy. The textbook starts with a
great tutorial introduction, and the first assignment focusses on
getting started with Matlab. The true programming content of this
class is small. An elementary understanding of loops ("for" loops) and
conditionals ("if" statements), and of functions/procedures, is all
homework you will be
expected to turn
numerical algorithms into functioning Matlab programs.
a copy of Matlab or Octave:
Supplementary text: There is a very nice, easy, free
book by Cleve Moler, the Matlab
- Matlab is available in a
fully-functional student version you can use on any computer you have
(about $100 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; you should call OIT at
450-8300 and request this. It is already
some locations on campus.
- Octave is free and the syntax and commands are the same. Its graphics and toolboxes are not quite as capable as their Matlab versions,
I use Octave for my
professional work. All codes in the class will be developed in Octave and checked for
functionality in Matlab.
Octave at http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/. Binaries
for Windows and MacOSX are at http://octave.sourceforge.net/.
get it through a package manager. Online documentation for Matlab works fine as documentation for Octave.
C. Moler, Numerical
It is not quite a good text for the course---it does not quite have the
mathematical ideas---but it is fun. Moler is a great "role model" to follow for actual
numerical programming. You can download individual chapters as
PDF or you can buy a
copy through SIAM Press. We will use some of the
programs from this book.
Policies and Makeup exams: The
and Statistics has reasonable policies on incompletes, late
withdrawals, early final examinations, etc. See www.dms.uaf.edu/dms/Policies.html.
the UAF Student Code of
I will work with
the Office of Disabilities Services (203 WHIT, 474-7043) to provide
reasonable accommodation to student with disabilities. I will
create makeup versions of the
Exams if necessary, provided you have
a convincing reason for me to do so
you let me know at least two class
before the exam.