| Instructor: | Dr. Peter Howard, Blocker 620D |
| Phone: 862-3459 | |
| Email: phoward@math.tamu.edu |
Office hours: MW 3:00-4:00; R 1:30-2:30; Also, by appointment.
Class time and place: MWF 1:50-2:40, Blocker 126.
Section web page: /~phoward/M442.html
Textbook: MATLAB: An Introduction with Applications, 2nd Edition, by Amos Gilat. Also, students will be expected to download a considerable amount of material from the course web site.
Prerequisites: M304 (Linear Algebra) and M308 (Differential Equations), or consent of instructor.
Catalogue Description: The construction of mathematical models from areas such as economics, game theory, integer programming, mathematical biology, and mathematical physics.
Course Goal: The main goal of the course is to introduce students to both deterministic and probabilistic techniques useful in the mathematical description of physical events and situations. Unfortunately, it won't be possible to take a panoramic view of modeling across the spectrum, so after developing a few standard methods, we will focus instead on a handful of indicative examples. We will also work with two software packages, MATLAB for number crunching and LYX for typesetting reports.
Homework Assignments: An individual homework assignment will be made each Friday, due the following Friday. Individual assignments will depreciate by 5 points for each class period they are late for up to one week, at which time a 0 will be assigned.
Projects: Three projects will be assigned during the semester, each of which will be roughly three to four weeks in duration. The first project will be individual, the remaining two carried out in groups of two or three students, with the groups (non-negotiably) changing after the second project. Projects will not be accepted late.
Exams: There will be two exams during the semester, a midterm
and a comprehensive final. The midterm exam will be
an evening exam, Thursday March 9, 7-9 p.m. The final exam for this
class will be on Tuesday May 9, 3:30--5:30. Please make a note of
these dates.
Grades: Final grades will be determined in the following manner: Semester Projects: Individual: 15%, Group: 10% each; Homework assignments: 15%; Exams : 25% each. Grade ranges will be standard: 89.50-100, A; 79.50-89.49, B; 69.50-79.49, C, 59.50-69.49, D; below 59.50, F.
Make-up policy: Make-ups for exams will only be given if the student can provide a documented University-approved excuse (see University Regulations). According to University Student Rules students are required to notify an instructor by the end of the next working day after missing an exam. Otherwise the student forfeits his or her right to a make-up.
Scholastic Dishonesty: Copying work done by others, either
in-class
or out of class, is an act of scholastic dishonesty and will be
prosecuted
to the full extent allowed by University policy. "An Aggie does not
lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do." Please refer to the
Honor Council Rules and Procedures, available at the Office of the Aggie Honor System.
Copyright policy: All printed materials disseminated in class or on the web are protected by copyright laws. One xerox copy (or download from the web) is allowed for personal use. Multiple copies or sale of any of these materials is strictly prohibited.
Students with Disabilities: The following statement was
provided by the Department of Student Life: The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that
provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with
disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all
students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that
provides for reasonable accomodation of their disabilities. If
you believe you have a disability requiring an accomodation, please
contact the Department of Student Life, Services
for Students with Disabilities (SSD), in Room 126 of the
Koldus building or call 845-1637.
Class Schedule: Roughly speaking, we should cover the following material on the following schedule:
| Week of Monday | Material Covered |
|---|---|
| January 16 |
MATLAB |
| January 23 |
LyX; Curve fitting and parameter estimation |
| January 30 |
Dimensional analysis and non-dimensionalization (Kittinger project assigned Mon. Feb. 3) |
| February 6 |
Modeling with ODE |
| February 13 |
Modeling with ODE |
| February 20 |
Analysis of ODE models |
| February 27 |
(Time permitting) Modeling with PDE (Kittinger project due
Fri. Mar. 3.) |
| March 6 |
Review. Midterm Thurs. Mar. 9, 7-9 p.m.) |
| March 13 |
Spring break |
| March 20 |
Modeling with probability (HIV infection project assigned
Mon. Mar. 20) |
| March 27 |
Modeling with probability |
| April 3 |
Modeling with probability (Monday, April 3 is last day for
Q-drop) |
| April 10 |
Modeling topics (HIV Infection project due Mon. Apr. 10,
Blackjack project assigned, No class Fri. Apr. 14) |
| April 17 |
Modeling topics (e.g., Lagrange multipliers, matrix methods, perturbation methods, linear programming) |
| April 24 |
Modeling topics |
| May 1 |
Modeling topics (Blackjack project is due on Tuesday, May 2,
the last day of class.) |