Math 411, Linear Algebra

Instructor -- Pavel Guerzhoy

The class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30 - 11:45am at 413, Keller Hall.


Office: 501, Keller Hall (5-th floor)
tel: (808)-956-6533
e-mail: pavel(at)math(dot)hawaii(dot)edu (usually, I respond to e-mail messages within a day)
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30-4:30pm

Final exam due Tuesday, May 10 at noon in envelope stuck to my door


General Expectations
The Department of Mathematics has a general expectations statement, which we are assumed to follow in this class.
Reading
In this class we use the book
  • Sheldon Axler, Linear Algebra Done Right, Springer, Third Edition.
    The book is really unavoidable, and cannot be replaced with another textbook! Earlier edition of the same book do not work as well. There are, however, many linear algebra textbooks which may be useful. Linear Algebra by K. Hoffman and R. Kunze, Prentice Hall, is of particular interest. It covers much more material than this class.
    Course Objective
    To learn basic ideas and notions of linear algebra. It is particularly important to learn to operate with these ideas and notions, namely, to produce mathematically rigorous arguments.
    Prerequisites
    A grade of B or better in 311 and 321, or consent.

    Grading Policy
    The course contains a combination of concepts, ideas and techniques, which the students must be able to apply in solving specific problems. An overwhelming majority of these problems requires to either prove or disprove a certain statement. At the end of the day, your grade will reflect your ability to solve specific problems. This assumes your ability to read and understand the textbook. To understand, in this context means to be able to create arguments which are similar to those provided in the text. More specifically, the following rules are to be taken.



  • Final exam due Tuesday, May 10 at noon in envelope stuck to my door will count for 40% of the final grade.

  • Mid-term test, which covers the material of Chapters 1,2,3,4,5 from the book counts for 30% of the final grade.
    Midterm exam also will consist of a "take home" and "in class" portions. The precise date of the midterm will be announced in class approximately one week in advance. At the same time the "take home" portion will be distributed. A make-up exam will only be given in very unusual circumstances, with one week prior notification (or in the event of an emergency, "very" strong documentation of that emergency). Not attending class, and hence not being present when the midterm is announced or administered is not an acceptable excuse.

  • Quizzes will be given approximately bi-weekly, and the average grade for the quizzes counts for 30% of the final grade.

    The following are not part of the grading scheme:



    Contents and regular Homework assignments

    A typical homework consists of four parts:
    1. make sure that the chapters discussed in class are crystal clear for you; reread and rethink them
    2. finish the problem sets to these chapters
    3. read next one or two (whatever is assigned) chapters from the book
    4. try to solve as many exercises to these chapters as you can


    The book has 561 exercises, and our goal is to solve almost all of them during the semester.

    In class, I assume that you have already read the material thoroughly, and solved easier homework problems.
    I only clarify the overall structure of the material, and show how to solve as many exercises as time allows. It is a part of your homework to accomplish the problem sets discussed in class.
    Overwhelming majority of the exercises require proofs . Your ability to produce these proofs reflects your understanding of the material.



    This table will be updated regularly, and is supposed to grow gradually.




    Date Sections covered Reading Assignment remarks and announcements
    Tue, 12 Jan 1A,1B 1C
    Thu, 14 Jan 1C 2A,2B
    Tue, 19 Jan 2A,2B 2C
    Thu, 21 Jan 2C Chapters 1 and 2 for quiz
    Tue, 26 Jan quiz,3A,3B 3C
    Thu, 28 Jan 3C 3D,3E
    Tue, 2 Feb 3D,3E 3F
    Thu, 4 Feb 3D,3F 4
    Tue, 9 Feb 3F 4
    Thu, 11 Feb 4, 5A 5A Section 3 exercises
    Tue, 16 Feb quiz on chapter 3, 5A 5A,5B
    Thu, 18 Feb 5B 5C
    Tue, 23 Feb 5B, 5C 6A
    Tue, 23 Feb 5B, 5C 6A
    Thu, 25 Feb 6A 6B
    Tue, 1 Mar 6B 6C
    Thu, 3 Mar 6C
    Tue, 8 Mar 6C deadline for quiz (2 pages, 3 questions)
    Thu, 10 Mar 7A
    Thu, 10 Mar review for midterm
    Thu, 17 March midterm
    Tue, 29 March 7B
    Thu, 31 March 7C
    Tue, 5 April 7D 8A
    Thu, 7 April 8A 8B
    Tue, 12 April 8B 8C deadline for quiz (5 pages, 5 questions)
    Thu, 14 April 8C 8D
    Tue, 19 April 8D 10A
    Thu, 21 April 10A
    Tue, 26 April 10A
    Thu, 28 April 10B
    Tue, 3 May 10B Final exam due Tuesday, May 10 at noon in envelope stuck to my door