MA 532-001 Fall 2008
Ordinary Differential Equations I
Mathematics
MA 532-001 Home Page
Information
Meeting time: MWF 12:25 - 13:15
Meeting place: HA 274
Instructor: Stephen Schecter
E-mail address: schecter@math.ncsu.edu
Office location: HA 349
Office hours: MTWHF 9:10 - 10:00
Office telephone number: 515-6533
Office fax number: 513-7336
Goals of the Course
The student will learn the basic theory and techniques of ordinary differential equations, including linear systems, existence and uniqueness theory, linearization, stability, limit sets, and periodic solutions.
Prerequisites
MA 341, MA 405, and MA 425 or 511.
Corequisite: MA 426 or 512.
Text
Differential Dynamical Systems by James D. Meiss, SIAM, 2007, $79.00.
MA 532 will cover Chapters 1 through 4. MA 732 will cover Chapters 5 through 8 (invariant manifolds, planar systems, chaos, bifurcations).
An errata sheet for the text is available on the author's home page.
E-mail
I will frequently communicate with you by e-mail. E-mail will go to the address listed for you in the NC State Campus Directory. To change your e-mail address, click on "Update My Directory Listing."
Homework
I will assign homework regularly by e-mail to be turned in and graded. Homework assignments are also listed on the homework page.
I encourage you to work on homework assignments with one or more of your classmates. However, you must write up your answers yourself. Please see the University guidelines on academic integrity.
Grading
- Homework: 1/3
- Two one-hour tests: 1/6 each
- Final: 1/3
If you miss a test, I will need a letter documenting the reason. Makeup tests can only be given for reasons such as illness, emergency, participation in a University-sponsored event, required court attendance or military duty, or religious observances as certified by the Department of Student Development.
If you know you will be absent on a test date, you must clear the absence with me in advance and schedule a makeup date. In the case of an unanticipated absence on a test date, you must give me documentation and schedule a makeup date as soon as possible. See the University policies.
The final exam is Wednesday, December 10, 1 - 4 p.m., in the usual room.
Supplementary Material
Students with Disabilities
NC State policies on working with students with disabilities can be found here.
End-of-Semester Class Evaluations
On-line class evaluations will be available for you to complete during the
last two weeks of class (8 a.m. November 21 through 8 a.m. December 8). You will receive an email
message directing you to a website where you can log in using your Unity ID and
complete the evaluation. All evaluations are confidential; instructors will never know how
any one student responded to any question.
- Evaluation website: https://classeval.ncsu.edu.
- Student help desk: classeval@ncsu.edu.
- More information about ClassEval: http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/classeval/index.htm.
Last modified Tue Aug 11 2009
Send questions or comments to schecter@math.ncsu.edu