Math 524, Linear Algebra
(5:35-6:50 MW in C-8)


Final exam: The final exam is at 10-12 on Fri, Dec 19 in C-8. It is cumulative.

Office hours during exam week: 5:30-7 on Mon (12/15) and 2-5 on Tue (12/16).

Syllabus: Here is the syllabus.

Online resources:
 Homework: Remember that you do not have to turn in the HW. However you should keep up with it. This is why we have target dates. You should have completed your HW by the target date and have it in a form that you would be confident relying on at the next exam. You can of course come back to it and revise it afterwards.

Assigned
 Target date Read
 Exercises
9/8
 9/17
 Ch 1
 1.3-9
9/17
 9/24
 Ch 1
 1.10-15
9/24
Ch 2
 No new exercises at this time. Wouldn't this be a good time to earn some extra credit (+ fame and a prize) by solving the problem of the fortnight?
9/29
 10/6
 Ch 2
 2.1, 4
10/6
 10/13
 Ch 2
 2.2, 3, 5 (Hint: this is similar to proving that R[x] is infinite dimensional), 6, 7
10/13
Ch 2
 You get a short break. New HW is coming out on Wed.
10/15
 10/22
 Ch 2
 2.8, 9
10/22
 10/29
 Ch 3
 2.11-14, 16, 17 (Hint: Choose bases for the subspaces and take their union. Prove that this union is a basis of V.)
10/29
Ch 3
 You get a break this time. Use it to prepare for the exam on Mon. I'll post new homework on Mon.
11/3
 11/10
 Ch 3
 3.1, 3, 5, 7-9
11/10
 11/17
 Ch 3
 3.2, 4, 11 (Why can't you just say dim(V)=dim null(T)+dim R(T) which is a finite number+a finite number, hence finite?), 16, 17
11/17
 11/24
 Ch 4, 5 (pp. 75-80)
 3.12-14, 20, 24
11/24
 12/1
 Ch 4, 5 (pp. 75-80)
 4.2-5
5.1, 2
12/1
 12/8
 Ch 5 (pp. 75-80)
 3.22, 23
5.3, 4, 7, 8
12/8
 12/15
 Ch 5 (pp. 81-84)
 5.10, 11, 14-16

The problem of the fortnight: The Mathematics Department in San Diego posts a new fun problem every two weeks.  If you'd like to submit a solution, give it or e-mail it to me, so that I can fax them all together to San Diego. Winners receive prizes.

The Putnam Competition: This is not strictly related to this course. The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition will be held on Sat, Dec 6 this year (it is administered locally right here on campus). The exercises primarily test the ability to construct rigorous mathematical arguments to solve (difficult) unfamiliar problems and not lexical knowledge. If you like proofs and enjoy the challenge of thinking about such problems, I encourage you to sign up for the competition by contacting me soon. Registration must reach the organizers by Oct 14, so I will send it out around Oct 8. Here is an archive of past exercises and solutions.  We will have a series of training sessions to prepare for the Putnam.

California Mathematics Council conference: Here is the official website of the conference. If you are coming along to the conference, please, look at the online conference schedule and pick some talks you will want to attend. Once at the conference, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the number of options and spend the day reading the schedule and wandering around looking for the locations instead of attending talks.

Exam solutions:
 Useful links: The links below lead to sites with encyclopedias of math terms.  You can use them to find definitions, examples, and some theorems.
Some scholarship opportunities for prospective teachers: