Math 110—Linear Algebra—Fall 2009


Professor: Mark Haiman

Professor Haiman's Office: 855 Evans Hall, hours M 10:30-11:30, W 2:30-3:30 (Reading/Review Week hours MW 11:30-1:30)

GSI's:

Lectures: MWF 1-2pm, 100 Lewis

Discussion Sections: Wednesdays, see schedule. No section meeting on the first day of classes, Wednesday, August 26.

Course Control Number: 54554

Prerequisites: Math 54 or equivalent preparation in linear algebra at the lower division level. Some prior experience with mathematical reasoning and proofs, for example Math 55, is also helpful.

Required Text: Friedberg, Insel, and Spence, "Linear Algebra," 4th Ed.

Grading policy: Homework 15%, Midterms 15% each, Final exam 40%.
Incomplete grades are rarely given, and only in documented cases of illness or serious personal or family emergency. A grade of incomplete for missing work can only be given if you having passing grades on your other work.

Homework: Due at the beginning of lecture on Mondays (except HW 1 due Fri 9/4, because Mon 9/7 is a holiday). Returned in sections on Wednesday. Homework will not be accepted late. Due to limited resources, only some of the problems from each homework set will be selected for grading.
You are free to discuss ideas on how to solve the homework problems with other students. However, you must write your solutions independently. It is not permissible to copy solutions worked out in a group, or from students who took the class before, or found on the web.
When calculating grades, we will drop your two lowest homework scores. (Since not all homeworks have the same weight, the actual algorithm we will use is a little more complicated: we will drop whichever two homework scores leave you with the highest percentage of the total possible score on the remaining homeworks, then use that percentage to figure your grade.)

Exams:

At midterm exams you may bring one (ordinary size) sheet of notes, written on both sides. Two sheets are allowed for the final exam. No other books, calculators, computers or other aids may be used. Space to write answers will be provided on the exam paper, but you should bring your own scratch paper.
No make-up exams will be given. If you miss one midterm, your score on the following exam will count for that midterm. However, you cannot "miss" a midterm retroactively after turning in your exam. If you miss the final or more than one midterm, see the discussion of Incomplete grades under Grading Policy, above.

Syllabus

Reading and Homework Assignments

Useful Links

Prof. George Bergman has written some Notes on sets, logic, and mathematical language, which you may find helpful in reading, writing and understanding some of the definitions and proofs in this course.
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