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MA 305 Spring '98 Syllabus

Course Outline*

Lecture Topic(s) Audio Slides Maple ws Notes/Book(s)
1. Jan 6 Course overview streamed audio(*.ra 5.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.9MB)
1.html 1.mws (1.txt)  
2. Jan 8 Solution of linear equations streamed audio(*.ra 5.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.9MB)
2.html 2.mws (2.txt) H §1.2; S §1.1, S §1.2,
3. Jan 13 Reduction to REF, Gaussian elimination streamed audio(*.ra 5.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 3.0MB)
3.html 3.mws (3.txt) H Appendix B; S §1.3, S §1.4.
4. Jan 15 Reduced REF, Gauss-Jordan elimination streamed audio(*.ra 5.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
4.html 4.mws (4.txt) H §1.3
Tuesday, Jan 20 Martin Luther King holiday, no class
5. Jan 22 Matrix algebra streamed audio(*.ra 5.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.2MB)
5.html 5.mws (5.txt) S §2.1, S §2.2, S §2.3, Part S §2.4.
6. Jan 27 Fibonacci numbers streamed audio(*.ra 5.9MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.4MB)
6.html 6.mws (6.txt)
7. Jan 29 Matrix inverse, transposition streamed audio(*.ra 5.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.9MB)
7.html 7.mws (7.txt) S §2.4
8. Feb 3 Elementary matrices Cassette recorder broken. No audio. Sorry. We do have notes. 8.html 8.mws (8.txt) H §1.5; S §2.8-10
9. Feb 5 Matrix factorization streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
9.html 9.mws (9.txt)
Tuesday, Feb 10, at class time First midterm exam, counts 17.5%
10. Feb 12 Determinants streamed audio(*.ra 5.86MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.0MB)
10.html 10.mws (10.txt) H §2.1-3; S §3
11. Feb 17 Return of exam streamed audio(*.ra 5.5MB) 11.html 11.mws (11.txt)
Wednesday, Feb 18 Last day to drop course without grade
12. Feb 19 Cramer's rule streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.0MB)
12.html 12.mws (12.txt) H §2.4; S §3.6-7
13. Feb 24 Vector spaces streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
13.html 13.mws (13.txt) H §3.1-4; S §4.1
14. Feb 26 Subspaces streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
14.html
S §6.1
15. Mar 3 Lin independence, span streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
15.html
H §3.5; S §6.6-7
16. Mar 5 Basis, dimension streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
16.html 16.mws (16.txt) H §3.6; S §6.12
Week Mar 9-13 Spring break, no classes
17. Mar 17 Null space streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
17.html 17.mws (17.txt) H §3.7; S §6.3-4
18. Mar 19 Row and col space, rank streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.9MB)
18.html 18.mws (18.txt) H §3.7
Tuesday, Mar 24, at class time Second midterm exam, counts 17.5%
19. Mar 26 Orthogonal vectors and complement spaces streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
19.html
H §4.2; S §4.1, S §6.18
20. Mar 31 Return of exam streamed audio(*.ra 5.4MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.4MB)
20.html

21. Apr 2 Orthogonal projection, least squares streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.0MB)
21.html 21.mws (21.txt) H §4.2-3; S §6.28
22. Apr 7 Application of least squares: curve fitting streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.0MB)
22.html 22a.mws (22a.txt); 22b.mws (22b.txt); 22c.mws (22c.txt); 22d.mws (22d.txt)
Thursday, Apr 9 Easter, no classes
23. Apr 14 Estimating the run time of a program streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.0MB)
23.html;
QSORT run trace
23a.mws (23a.txt); 23b.mws (23b.txt)
24. Apr 16 Abstract inner product, norm; weighted least squares streamed audio(*.ra 6.7MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
24.html 24a.mws (24a.txt); 24b.mws (24b.txt) H §4.4
25. Apr 21 Gram-Schmidt process streamed audio(*.ra 6.7MB,
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
25.html 25.mws (25.txt) H §4.5-6; S §6.22
26. Apr 23 Ortho proj by QR factorization streamed audio(*.ra 6.7MB
26.html 26.mws (26.txt)
27. Apr 28 Linear transformations streamed audio(*.ra 6.8MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 1.7MB)
27.html 27.mws (27.txt); more Maple animations H §4.1; S §5.1-4
28. Apr 30 I left out the batteries from the recorder, so there is no audio for the make-up class. Therefore, I post last semester's class on eigenvalues (same topic, same lecture). All "new..." is from the make-up class.

Eigenvalues streamed audio(*.ra 5.2MB),
streamed audio (*.ra 2.6MB)
28.html
new28.html
28.mws (28.txt); new28.mws (new28.txt) H §5.2-3, 5.6; S §6.36
Thursday, May 7, 1pm-3, in class room Final exam, counts 25%
* This is a projected list and subject to amendment.

Instruction Personnel

For instructor, teaching assistant, office hours, telephone numbers, email and physical addresses see the homepages of Erich Kaltofen and John Haws.

Textbook and Online Text and Notes

I have downloaded Professor Mark Sapir's online linear algebra text book (framed homepage), with the author's permission. Note the the Maple buttons or not operational.

If you cannot do without a hardcopy book, I have ordered We will be following Sapir's book, but the material in Hill's book is very similar and you should not have any difficulty finding the corresponding sections.

On-line information: All information on courses that I teach (except individual grades) is now accessible via html browsers, which includes this syllabus. My courses' directory is at

You can also find information on courses that I have taught in the past, and examinations that I have given. The linear algebra courses have been moved to the Project25 server.

Grading and General Information

Grading will be done with plus/minus refinement.

There will be seven or eight homework assignments of approximately equal weight, some to be done on computers using the Maple systems, two mid-semester examinations during the semester and a final examination during examination week. Class attendance will not be monitored in any way.

Last semester's grade distribution.

Academic Standards

Examinations:All three examinations will be closed book-closed notes. However, you will be able to bring note sheets of paper with pertinent information to the examinations (1 for first exam, 2 for second exam, and 3 for final exam with the intent that you reuse your sheets for subsequent exams). The examinations will require your physical presence on campus.

Collaboration on homeworks: I expect every student to be his/her own writer/Maple programmer. Therefore the only thing you can discuss with anyone is how you might go about solving a particular problem. You may use freely information that you retrieve from public (electronic) libraries or texts, but you must properly reference your source.

Late submissions: All homeworks must be submitted on time. The following penalties are given for (unexcused) late submissions:

Alleged cheating incidents: I will not decide any penalty myself, but refer all such cases to the proper judiciary procedures.

©1997 Erich Kaltofen. Permission to use provided that copyright notice is not removed.