Webpage for MATH 590: Spring 2024



Cauchy
Cayley
Sylvester


Course: Math 590 Linear Algebra

Time and Place: MWF 11:00 - 11:50am, Snow Hall 301

Description: This is a second course in linear algebra. Students are expected to have had an introductory linear algebra course (e.g., Math 290 or Math 291) that covered basic topics such as linear systems of equations, matrices, vector spaces, linear transformations, eigenvectors and eigenvalues. The vector spaces in this course will be defined either over the real numbers or the complex numbers. Topics to be covered include vector spaces, dual spaces, inner product spaces (including orthonormal bases via Gram-Schmidt), linear transformations, eigenvalues, matrices (including the trace and the determinant), linear operators on inner product spaces, spectral theorems, and canonical forms. All course material will appear on both our course webpage and our Canvas page.

Textbook: A Course in Linear Algebra (Dover Books on Mathematics), Illustrated edition, by David B. Damiano and John B. Little. ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0486469089.

Instructor: Professor D. Katz

Office: Snow Hall 501

Office Hours: MWF 12:00-12:50pm, and by appointment. If you need help outside of office hours, you are more than welcome to schedule a Zoom meeting or send an email whenever you have questions about the course or questions about problems on a homework assignment.

E-mail: dlk53 AT ku dot edu

Daily Update: After each class, a synopsis of what was covered will appear here Daily Update.

Homework Assignments: Homework will be assigned daily, but is not to be turned in. You are encouraged to work together on homework problems, since it is often more fun to solve problems together. However, to bolster your mathematical writing skills, I recommend that you write up the solutions on your own. Learning mathematics is like learning a language, and the latter cannot be done without significant daily practice. The homework problems will give you plenty of opportunity to practice. You are responsible for all material covered in the homework assignments, especially since the weekly quizzes include homework problems. Check here for the daily assignments: Math 590 Homework.

Weekly Quizzes: We will have a 15 minute quiz each Monday (except those Mondays following a midterm exam), beginning on January 22. Each quiz will have a combination of homework problems from the previous week together with questions asking you to state definitions or results from the previous week's lectures. Your two lowest quiz grades will be dropped.

Quiz 1 solutions, Quiz 2 solutions, Quiz 3 solutions, Quiz 4 solutions, Quiz 5 solutions, Quiz 6 solutions, Quiz 7 solutions, Quiz 8 solutions, Quiz 9 solutions, Quiz 10 solutions,
Quiz 11 solutions

Midterm Exams: There will be two in-class midterm exams. The dates for these exams are February 23 and April 5.

Solutions to Exam I, Solutions to Exam 2

Bonus Points: Throughout the semester students will have occasional opportunities to earn bonus points that will be added to their total score at the end of the semester.

BP 1 solution, BP 2 solution, BP 3 solution, BP 4 solution, BP 5 solution

Final Exam: The final exam will be held in our classroom on Thursday May 9 from 10:30am to 1:00pm.

Course grading: Weekly Quizzes (100 prorated points), two midterm exams (100 points each) and the final exam (200 points). Total: 500 points. A = 450-500 points, B = 400-449 points, C = 300-399 points, D = 275-299 points, F = 0-274 points. Note:All students must take the final exam. However, your (prorated) score on the final exam can replace your lowest midterm exam grade, if doing so improves your final average.

Best of luck this semester!

 


Students with disability

The KU Office of Disability Resources (DR) coordinates accommodations and services for all eligible students with disabilities. If you have a disability and wish to request accommodations and have not contacted DR, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is located in 22 Strong Hall; their phone number is 785-864-2620 (V/TTY). Information about their services can be found at www.disability.ku.edu. Please also contact me privately in regard to your needs in this course.

Policy on religious observances

Any student who has a conflict between the course schedule and a religious holiday should contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Additional resources and policy information

Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with University Policies and Student Resources. Relevant information may be found here: Resources and policies