Math 134, Fall 2019
ODEs and Dynamical Systems
Lecture time and location
Section 1: MW 10:30-11:45 in MH 423
Section 2: MW 3:00-4:15 in MH 424
Prerequisite
Math 32 and Math 129A (with a grade of "C-" or better in each) or instructor consent.
Office hours
MW 9:45 - 10:30 AM and 2:00-2:45 PM
Required textbook
M. W. Hirsch, S. Smale, and R. L. Devaney: Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems and an Introduction to Chaos, third edition, Academic Press (Elsevier), 2013
Additional reading
S. N. Simic, Ordinary Differential Equations, lecture notes, posted on Piazza
Homework
There will be weekly homework assignments. You are welcome to work on the homework collaboratively with other students, but you should write up your own solutions independently. The homework will not be collected or graded, but you absolutely MUST do the homework to pass or do well in this class. I will provide solutions to all homework problems.
Quizzes
For each homework there will be a 10 minute quiz, given on the day the homework is due. Each quiz will consist of a single problem taken from the corresponding homework assignment.
Exams
There will be one midterm and a final exam. There will be no make-up exams. Please mark your calendars:
Midterm: October 16, 2019
Final: Section 1, December 12, 2019, 9:45 - 12:00.
Section 2, December 17, 2019, 12:15 - 2:30
Grading policy
Quizzes 20%, Midterm 35%, Final 45%
Piazza
To handle questions posed outside of class, we will be using Piazza (https://piazza.com),
a free platform for instructors and GSIs to efficiently manage out-of-class Q&A. On
the class dashboard, students can post questions and collaborate Wikipedia-style to
edit responses to these questions. Instructors can also answer questions, endorse
student answers, and edit or delete any posted content. Instead of emailing me math
questions, I encourage you to post them to Piazza. Each student will be invited to
join Piazza by email. Please join it as soon as you can, as I plan to use Piazza extensively.
Instead of sending me email, please create a post on Piazza with your question or
concern. Private or anonymous post are fine, though they should be used rarely.
Greensheet