Math 135: Ordinary differential equations

2018 Winter

Material: the course is meant as a continuation of Math 33B. In particular, we will consider notions as Laplace transforms, existence and uniqueness theorems, Fourier series, separation of variable solutions to partial differential equations, Sturm-Liouville theory. We will also consider some problems in the framework of calculus of variations.

Instructor: Alpár R. Mészáros, MS 5230 (check the e-mail address on my webpage or on CCLE)

TA: Francis White; Discussion: T - 9-9h50AM (same room as for the lectures)

Schedule of classes: MWF - 9-9h50AM

Location: Geology 6704

Office hours: Wednesday 10AM-12PM (or by appointment)

Text: G. Simmons, Differential Equations with Applications and Historical Notes, 2nd Ed., 1991, McGraw-Hill.

Prerequisites: Math 33A and 33B




Homework exercises will be assigned weekly (9 set of problems) and collected at the beginning of the Friday lecture (if Friday is a holiday the collection date is next Monday at the beginning of the lecture). Please note that late- or not submitted homework papers will be graded as zero, but the lowest two homework scores will be dropped in the computation of your final grade (see 'Grading' section below). The homework sheets will appear on this webpage, approximately 1 weak before their deadline. There is a possibility to work in groups. In this case, everybody from the group has to submit her/his own homework paper and should write the names of the other students from his/her group on the top of the papers.

Exams: there will be two in class midterm exams (see the precise dates below) and a written final exam at the end. No make-up exams will be provided, a missed exam is graded as zero. You must take the final in order to pass the class!

Grading: the final grade is calculated as follows. One automatically choses the scheme which gives you higher final score:
10% H + 40% (M1+M2)/2 + 50% F,
or
10% HG + 25% max(M1;M2) + 65% F, where

H = the average of the homework scores, except the lowest two

M1, M2 = the scores of the midterm exams

F = the score of the final exam




Date of the first midterm: Wednesday, January 24th, 2018, in class

Date of the second midterm: Wednesday, February 21st, 2018, in class

Date of the final exam: Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 11h30AM-2h30PM

Regrading for the submitted homework papers, midterm- and final exams should be requested within 2 weeks of their due date and exam dates respectively. Any requests after this period will be not taken into consideration.

Homework sheets

Homework 1 - due to Friday, January 19th, 2018.
Homework 2 - due to Friday, January 26th, 2018.
Homework 3 - due to Friday, February 2nd, 2018.
Homework 4 - due to Friday, February 9th, 2018.
Homework 5 - due to Friday, February 16th, 2018.
Homework 6 - due to Friday, February 23rd, 2018.
Homework 7 - due to Friday, March 2, 2018.
Homework 8 - due to Friday, March 9, 2018.
Homework 9 - due to Friday, March 16, 2018.