Math 372 - Fall 2009
Dynamical Systems

The second test will be on Friday, December 4.
It will cover Chapters 4 and 5.

News:

• 11/21: The second test from last semester is now available. See "Sample tests" below.
• 11/20: Finished chapter 5.
• 11/18: Finished sections 5.4 and 5.5.
• 11/13: I finished section 5.3. I made some minor formatting changes in the rest of the book.
• 11/9: I moved the operational details of the course (including grading) to a separate syllabus page.
• 11/6: Finished sections 5.2 and B.3. B.3 is annotation for the DEtools sample worksheet (see below).
• 11/6: I added a couple of plots to section 5.1.
• 11/4: I finished sections 5.1, A.3 and A.4. A.3 has a summary of the basic facts of partial differentiation. A.4 is only needed for Problem 5.3 (which will not be assigned).
• 10/31: I made a small correction to problem 2.7. The notes are now complete through Chapter 4.

The course: This is Dynamical Systems, Math 372.

Syllabus: The syllabus contains the basic operational information about the course, including prerequisites, a brief course outline, and my policies on grading, homework, attendance, and academic honesty.

Class notes: There is no textbook for the course. I will be re-writing the class notes throughout the semester. The notes are available as the following files. "Everything" is the current copy of the entire set of notes. However, the earlier sections will not change very frequently, so I am also making the notes available as individual sections. The individual chapters have the "last modified" time on each page except the first so you can keep track of which version you have.

Please let me know about problems with the notes (errors, confusing language, etc.)

Sample tests: These are the tests from last semester.

• Test 1, Spring 2009.
• Test 2, Spring 2009.

Maple: A number of the homework assignments will require that you use a computer algebra system. My preference is Maple, and I will discuss using it in class. It will also be discussed in an appendix to the notes. To help you get started using it I will produce some sample Maple worksheets. The worksheets were saved without the output. To see the output, position your cursor on each line in turn and hit the ENTER key. Alternatively, hit the "!!!" button at the top of the main display.

• Linear algebra: This is discussed in Appendix B.2.
• The DEtools worksheet example, as discussed in Appendix B.3.

You may use another system if you prefer. Popular alternatives are Mathematica and Matlab, which are available on campus, and octave, which is free. However, I may not be able to help you if you run into technical difficulties using anything but Maple.

Homework: I will try to assign homework frequently, and I will record the homework in the list below.

I will record whether you turn in each problem, and I will grade most problems from each week's assignment. I will count your homework toward your course grade, and I expect that you will turn in a reasonable number of the assigned problems. There will be a lot of variation in the problems, so you should be able to find something that you are interested in.

I encourage students to colloborate on homework. If you work with someone else on a homework problem you must tell me who you worked with. You must also make sure that all students working together on a problem understand all of the work.