Math 340L (Matrices and Matrix Calculations), Fall 2010

This is the main page for section 55430 of Math 340L. Quick links: first day handout (contains a condensed version of what's on this page), homework, syllabus (including notes from the lectures so far), exam info.

Instructor

I am Andrew (Andy) Neitzke. You can contact me at neitzke@math.utexas.edu. My office hours are Tuesday 9:30a-10:30a and Friday 11:00a-12:00 noon, in RLM 9.134.

Teaching assistant

The teaching assistant is Jiexian (Jessie) Li. Her office hours are Monday 4:00p-5:00p, Tuesday 1:00-2:30p, Wednesday 4:00-5:00p and Friday 9:30-11:00a in RLM 11.156.

Lectures

Lectures are Tuesday and Thursday, from 8:00a (sorry) to 9:30a, in CPE 2.208. There will be a total of 28 class days, of which 2 are taken up by midterm exams (see below), making 26 lectures.

Textbook

The course text is Linear Algebra and its Applications, 3rd edition, by David Lay. It is really required. The first chapter is available online.

Syllabus

The course is intended to cover the material in Chapters 1-6 of the text, with some sections omitted. More details are available here, including a projected schedule, and notes from all the lectures given so far.

Homework

Problem sets will be assigned weekly, due on Thursday in class, or in the mail slot outside my office door (RLM 9.134) no later than 9:30a Thursday. You are strongly encouraged to work together on the problems. However, you must write up your own solutions, independently. You should show your work and write neatly or at least legibly.

Late homework cannot generally be accepted, because it creates extra work for the already-overworked grader.

The problem sets assigned so far are here.

Exams

There will be two in-class midterm exams. The first will be on the 11th class day, Thursday September 30. The second will be on the 21st class day, Thursday November 4.

There will be a final exam on Tuesday December 14 from 2-5pm. The final exam will cover the whole course, but will put more emphasis on the material covered after the second midterm, so that all parts of the course get roughly equal coverage in the exams.

A 1-page (standard letter size, 2-sided) handwritten crib sheet is allowed for each exam.

Calculators may not be used on any exam.

More exam info (including practice exams) can be found here.

Grading

Midterms will count 4/9 (2/9 for each). The final exam will count 3/9. Homework will count 2/9.

When calculating the averages, I will drop the lowest 2/9; this means either dropping one midterm, dropping the homework grade, or underweighting the final. I will also drop the lowest homework assignment.

The grading curve (mapping from averages to letter grades) is not fixed in advance. I can promise that it will not be stricter than 90=A, 80=B, 70=C, 60=D, and there will be a curve as warranted.

Disabilities

The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.