Math 110: Linear Algebra

General Information

• Place: 4 Evans Hall
• Time: 10AM-12PM, Mon-Thu, June 24th-August 15th
• Instructor: James McIvor
• Office: 1062 Evans Hall
• Email Address: my last name at math.berkeley.edu
• Office Hours: Monday 12-1, Tuesday 9-10, 2-3
• Course Webpage: http://www.math.berkeley.edu/~mcivor/math110su13
• Link to schedule of lectures
• Piazza chat room discussion: https://piazza.com/berkeley/summer2013/mathematics110/home.

• Thanks for a great summer! Hopefully you learned a thing or two!
• Final Exam solution here.
• Midterm 2 solution here.
• Midterm 1 solution here.
• Please note - class meets from 10-12 EVERY DAY Mon - Thurs. There was some confusion about this from the berkeley schedule website.

Overview

Math 110 is a second course in linear algebra, focusing more on theory and proof than computations. We will begin with the abstract notions of vector spaces and linear transformations, and relate these to the more familiar column vectors and matrices. We will see that finite-dimensional vector spaces are classified by their dimension, which is to say two spaces having the same dimension are essentially the same. Thus the more interesting thing to study is a linear transformation between two vector spaces. This is a very interesting theory, and will occupy us for most of the back half of the course. This class, however, is focused at least as much on developing your ability to write and read proofs as it is on the material itself. As such, a lot of time will be spent discussing various strategies for writing and understanding proofs. I will also emphasize where possible geometric interpretations, since I think this is helpful and often overlooked.

Prerequisites

Textbook

Grading

• Midterm Exams - 100 points each; two midterms (20% each)
• Final Exam - 200 points (40%)
• Homework - 15 points each; seven assignments (note this comes to 105 points, so extra credit is possible here). (20%)

You must take the final exam to pass the course. In the event of a serious medical emergency, you may miss ONE midterm if you have written documentation of your illness; in this case the final exam will then count for 60% of your grade. You cannot miss both midterms.

Homework

In doing your homework, you should work with others, but please write the names of your collaborators at the top of the assignment. You must write clearly - points will be taken off if your explanations are confusing or illegible. When writing proofs, you must use complete sentences.

Exams

Lectures

We meet for two hours each session. The first fifty minutes will be a lecture. After a ten minute break, the second hour will be a problem session.

As mentioned above, I will try to supplement the textbook by giving many examples in my lectures. You will be responsible for these (and possibly other) examples on the exams and homework, so it's a good idea to come to class.