Text: J. W. Riley, K.F., Hobson, M.P. and Bence, S.J., Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering, Cambridge University Press 1998. ISBN: 0-521-55529-9 (paperback). I may ask you to read some sections on your own; and I may introduce some material that is not in the text (to see reviews of the book on amazon.com click here).

Scope of course: The course will develop methods and approaches for solving mathematical problems arising in applications, including ordinary and partial differential equations. Tentative Course Outline: Orthogonal expansions, Fourier series, Sturm-Liouville theory, Classical partial differential equations (wave, heat, Laplace equations).

Homework: The homework assignments will be given at the end of each lecture. All homework will be due on the assigned due date (normally a Friday). No late homework will be accepted. The homework with the lowest score of the quarter will be dropped before the final grade is computed.

Exams: There will be one midterm exam (date to be announced) and a comprehensive final exam (Wednesday, March 22, 10:30 am - 12:30pm ). All exams are closed notes and books. Picture ID with signature is required and must be presented upon request. This is your responsibility to keep the tests and quizzes until the end of the quarter.

Grading: Assigned homework will be collected periodically and graded. There will also be one in-class midterm exam and a final exam. The weighting for the grades is the following: Homework - 30%, Midterm exam - 30%, Comprehensive final exam - 40%.

Partial Credit: Partial credit for incomplete answers will only be given if you did complete a substantial fraction which demonstrates your understanding of the material. However, on all quizzes and exams you have the give up option: if you clearly write the words ``Give Up'' underneath your answer, it will not be read (whether wrong or right) and you will receive 20% of the maximum score by default.

Late exams, incompletes, etc.: I never give `early' exams, and hardly ever give `late' exams. If I do allow you to take a late exam, you can be sure that it will be different from - and harder than - the one given to the rest of the class. If you have a well-documented excuse showing that for reasons beyond your control it was absolutely impossible for you to take an exam, it will be rescheduled at a later date and a commensurate penalty will be assessed.

Homework assignments

Mathematician Jokes (updated regularly)

• On some software problems
• Virus alert
• How to hunt elephants
• Five things that women should never, ever ask a guy
• Euroenglish
• Absolutely useless facts
• Why Men Like Dogs Better Than Women

Final exam is coming soon...
(Wednesday, March 22, 10:30 am - 12:30pm)