M365G, Curves and Surfaces
Unique numbers: 55965
Lectures TuTh 11:00-12:30, RLM 6.116
Web page:
http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/sadun/S12/Curves
Professor: Lorenzo Sadun, RLM 9.114, x1-7121,
sadun@math.utexas.edu
Office hours: M 2-3, F10:15-11:15. I generally keep an open
door and welcome
visitors at all times.
Textbook: Elementary Differential Geometry, 2nd Ed, by Andrew
Pressley.
Prerequisites: I am not enforcing any
formal prerequisite for this course.
However, you really should have taken M365C and M341 (or M340L) and
done well.
Syllabus: Chapters 1-10 and 13 of the text. If we're ahead of
schedule, I'll add some material from chapter 11.
You can find an online day-by-day schedule
here.
Homework and attendance:
Homework will be due in lecture every Tuesday, except
for the first day of class.
See hw.html for the latest information.
Late homework will not
be accepted, even a few minutes after class is over,
unless you are sick or have made prior arrangements with me.
The purpose of the homework is to learn, not to show off and get points
towards a grade. You are encouraged to work on problems in teams -- by far
the best way to understand a problem is to explain your ideas to somebody else.
If you get stuck, come to office hours or look at the solutions in the back
of the book. (There are solutions to every problem there.)
I would much rather you ask (or peek) and get an answer than that you stay
confused. However, I expect on your honor that all work that you
submit represents your true understanding. Getting help is OK; copying is
not. (I've got no way to enforce the distinction, but your conscience does.)
Each written homework will be graded on a 10-point scale.
I'll drop one homework in computing your term average. At this time it's unclear
whether I will have any help in grading; I'll do what I can.
Exams: There will be three in-class midterm exams (all on Thursdays)
and a comprehensive final exam: Midterms on
February 16, March 22 (right before drop day), and April 12, and the final
on Monday, May 14, 2-5PM.
These exams will all
be closed book and calculators will not be allowed.
However, each student will be allowed to bring a single
letter-sized
``crib sheet'' (2-sided) to each midterm, and 2 crib sheets to the
final.
These notes must be HANDWRITTEN ORIGINALS - NO XEROXING ALLOWED.
Grading: Each midterm counts 20%. The final exam counts 40%.
The homework, taken together, counts 20%. At the end of the term I will
drop your lowest 20%. (For instance, if your worst score is a midterm, then
that midterm is dropped, while if your worst score is the final, then
the final only counts 20%.) If you miss a midterm exam because of illness,
then that's the grade that gets dropped.
The final grade distribution is neither a straight
scale nor a fixed curve. The cutoffs will be set at the
end of the semester, based on overall class performance, with the
following qualitative standard for the major grades (with obvious
adjustments for plusses and minuses):
An "A" means that you understand the ideas of the course well enough
that you can use them even in unusual settings.
A "B" means that you can do the standard problems we have done during
the semester, but can't do anything new.
A "C" means that you understand the techniques of the class well enough
to handle a hypothetical class (which doesn't actually exist) that has M365G
as a prerequisite.
A "D" means that you have learned a substantial amount, but that you are
not prepared to take that successor course.
An "F" means that you have failed to grasp the essential
concepts of the course.
Grading isn't an exact science, and all I'm going to do is adjust
cutoffs. Nobody will leapfrog anybody else. If you have more points
than your buddy, then your grade will be at least as good as your
buddy's, no matter what my general impressions of the two of you are.
Furthermore, a 90% average will guarantee you at least an A-, an 80%
average a B-, and a 70% average a C-. Most of the time, my cutoffs are
significantly more lenient than that. My hope is to give mostly A's and B's.
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
Drop dates: The deadline for dropping the class without the course
appearing on your transcript is February 1. After that date, a "Q" will
appear on your record. The deadline for dropping, period, is April 2.
Religious Holidays: I have tried to schedule major class
events to avoid major religious holidays, and I apologize if I overlooked
something. If you expect to miss class
or miss an assignment because of a religious holiday, please let me
know 14 days in advance, and you will be given the opportunity to make
up the missed work within a reasonable time.
Honor Code: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin
are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and
responsibility. Each member of the Universtiy is expected to uphold these
values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers
and community.
See
this column that I wrote in 2001 for my views on trust and personal
integrity.