M346, Applied Linear Algebra

Unique number: 92560

Meeting time and place: MTWThF 8:30-10,  RLM 5.116.

Web page: http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/sadun/Sum11/346

Professor: Lorenzo Sadun, RLM 9.114, x1-7121

email: sadun@math.utexas.edu

Office hours: MTWThF 10-11. I generally keep an open door and welcome visitors at all times.

Textbook: Applied Linear Algebra, 2nd edition, by Lorenzo Sadun. Do not get the first edition! The first edition had a huge number of printing errors, the second edition has a lot of new content, and the second edition is priced at about half the first edition.

Prerequisites: M340L or M341 or permission of instructor

Syllabus: Chapters 1 through 7, plus part of 8, with occasional skipped sections. You can find an online day-by-day schedule here.

Homework and attendance: Homework will be due in class every day, except for exam days and the first day of class. See hw.html for the latest assignment. 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. In other words, you must attend class every day! Of the 22 assigned homeworks, I will drop your lowest two scores (everybody gets a couple of mulligans!) and average the rest.

Exams: There will be two in-class midterm exams, on Monday July 25 and Friday August 5, plus a final exam on Monday morning, August 12, 9-12. These exams will all be closed book. 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 25%. The final exam counts 50%. The homework, taken together, counts 25%. At the end of the term I will drop your lowest 25%. 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 that has M346 as a prerequisite. (I don't think there is such a class, but the concept still makes sense.)

A "D" means that you have learned a substantial amount, but that you are not prepared to take that (hypothetical) 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 a lot more lenient than that.

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