Professor Boris
Botvinnik :
My office is 305 Fenton, and you can reach me
by phone at 346-5636 or by e-mail
botvinn@math.uoregon.edu
. My office hours are at
11:00-11:50 am on Mondays, Wednesdays or by appointment.
Lectures:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00-12:50 pm in 107 ESL.
Textbook:
Linear Algebra and Its Applications, Third Edition, by David
C. Lay. Students will be expected to read the textbook carefully, and
will be responsible for all the material in those sections that are
covered in class. The text contains solutions or hints for odd
numbered problems. The homework assignments will consist mostly of
even numbered problems, although I strongly recommend that you try
some of the odd numbered problems on your own. The accompanying study
guide contains a great deal of additional information that you should
find helpful.
Prerequisites:
Math 251, 252, 253 or instructor's consent.
Course Content:
Math 341 covers systems of linear equations, vector and matrix
algebra, determinants, and eigenvectors and eigenvalues, along with
various applications. These topics correspond to chapters 1, 2, 3, and
5 of the textbook. The homework page gives a tentative week-by-week
breakdown of the sections that will be covered in class. This course
will continue next semester with Math 342, which will cover the
remainder of the text, including vector spaces, linear independence,
bases, dimension, linear transformations, rank and nullity, and inner
product spaces. Students will be expected not only to learn to perform
vector and matrix computations, but also to understand the abstract
theory of linear algebra, including the fundamental definitions and
theorems.
Homework:
Homework is due in class on Wednesdays,
beginning January 13. Late homework will not be accepted. There
will be 9 homework assignments, the last of which will not be
graded. Your lowest homework score will be dropped. You may
collaborate with other class members on your homework, although you
must each write up your solutions independently and in your own
words. To avoid falling behind, you should do the reading and homework
as the material is presented in class, rather than leaving it all
until the last minute.
Exams:
There will be two midterm exams, given in class on
Fridays, January 29 and February 26. If you are forced to miss a
midterm due to extraordinary circumstances, you must get my permission
and schedule a make-up exam in advance. The final exam is
scheduled for Thursday, March 18, at 10:15 am - 12:15 pm.
Grading:
| Homework: | 20% |
| First Midterm Exam: | 20% |
| Second Midterm Exam: | 20% |
| Final Exam: | 40% |