Math 211 - Ordinary Differential Equations and Linear Algebra
Sevak Mkrtchyan
456 Herman Brown Hall
e-mail: (first name).(last name)@rice.edu

Course Description

Study of ordinary differential equations (e.g., solutions to separable and linear first-order equations and to higher-order linear equations with constant coefficients, the properties of solutions to differential equations, and numerical solution methods) and linear algebra (e.g., vector spaces and solutions to algebraic linear equations, dimension, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors of a matrix), as well as the application of linear algebra to first-order systems of differential equations and the qualitative theory of nonlinear systems and phase portraits. Use of the computers in Owlnet as part of each homework assignment required. Credit may not be received for both MATH 211 and MATH 213. (Description taken from Math courses.)
The following is the schedule for what I have covered and plan to cover each day. It will be updated regularly during the semester.

Lectures

TuTh 9:25-10:40AM in HRG 100

Office Hours:

TuTh 8:00-9:15AM (456 Herman Brown Hall)

Help Sessions:

TBD
Room: TBD
Teaching Assistants: Darren Ong,... (Note: look here for contact information.)

Textbook

The textbook for the course is Differential Equations, 2nd Edition by Polking Boggess and Arnold.

Grades

Your grade in the class will be based on the following weights:
15% - Homework+Projects
25% - Midterm 1: September 29
25% - Midterm 2: November 8
35% - Final Exam: See note below.

Homework

Homework will be assigned on Owl Space and collected in class at the beginning of class on Tuesdays. Under no circumstances will late homework be accepted. However, the two lowest homework grades will be dropped.

This is a schedule for what I have covered and what I plan to cover in class each day. This section will be updated regularly during the semester.

Date
 Sections
 Topic
 Homework
 Due
Tue, August 23 2.1 Introduction to ODE, Interval of existence 2.1: 1,6,7,9,11,13,16,19,23 Aug 30
Thu, August 25 2.2 Separation of Variables 2.2: 1,10,15,16,23,26,36 Aug 30
Tue, August 30 2.4 Linear ODEs 2.4: 6,7,15,22,24,31,32,38 Sep 8
Thu, September 1 2.6 Exact ODEs 2.6: 1,2,4,10,11,13,14,18 Sep 8
Tue, September 6 2.7 Existense and Uniqueness of solutions to ODEs 2.7: 1,4,6,7,8,10,28 Sep 13
Thu, September 8 2.9 Autonomous Equations 2.9: 2,6,8,12,13,20,25,28 Sep 13
Tue, September 13 7.1,7.2 Matrices and systems of linear equations 7.1: 1,4,6,12gh,20,26,30,35,40,44,54 Sep 20
Thu, September 15 7.2,7.3 Solving systems of equations 7.3: 1,4,6,15,16,19,22 Sep 20
Tue, September 20 7.4,7.5 Homogeneous and Inhomogeneous systems 7.4: 2,4,8,11,18,23,28 Sep 27
Thu, September 22 7.5 Span, Linear independence 7.5: 6,9,12,19,20,22,41,43,44 Sep 27
Thu, September 27 7.5 Bases of a subspace 7.5: 34,35,36 Oct 13
Thu, September 29 First Midterm Exam
Tue, October 4 7.6 Square matrices. Singularity. 7.6: 4,8,16,17,21,24 Oct 13
Thu, October 6 7.7 Determinants 7.7: 8,12,14,16,20,28,36,50,51 Oct 13
Tue, October 11 No class - mid term break.
Thu, October 13 8.1,8.2 Introduction to systems of ODEs 8.1: 2,8,13,14,20,25,26 Oct 25
Tue, October 18 8.3 Uniqueness and existence of solutions to systems of ODEs. 8.2: 6,12,14,21,23,24; 8.3: 4,9 Oct 25
Thu, October 20 8.4,8.5 Linear systems of ODEs 8.5: 19,20,24 Nov 1
Tue, October 25 9.1 Linear systems with constant coefficients 9.1: 1,4,10,19,20,26,53,54,56 Nov 1
Thu, October 27 9.2 Solving Planar Systems 9.2: 4,10,13,17,18,24,32,38,44,52 Nov 1
Tue, November 1 9.3, 9.4 Phase plane portraits and the Trace-Determinant plane 9.3: 4,10,11,12,16,20,21; 9.4: 14,16,18,20 Nov 10
Thu, November 3 9.5 Higher dimensional linear systems with constant coefficients 9.5: 9,15,20,24,30,34 Nov 10
Tue, November 8 Second Midterm Exam
Thu, November 10 9.6 The exponential of a Matrix 9.6: 1,4,6,10,19,20,27,28,35,40 Nov 17
Tue, November 15 9.7 Qualitative analysis of solutions 9.7: 9,10,12 Nov 22
Thu, November 17 9.8 Higher order linear ODEs. 9.8: 2,3,4,8,9,10,12,13 Nov 22
Tue, November 22 9.8 Solutions of higher order linear ODEs 9.8: 15,16,25,26,32,33,35,36,42 Dec 1
Thu, November 24 No class - Thanksgiving break
Tue, November 29 9.9 Inhomogeneous linear systems with constant coefficients. 9.9: 1,4,6,7,8,28 Dec 1
Thu, December 1 Review


You are expected to attend every class and arrive on time. It is your responsibility to be informed of any announcements made in class.

Exams

There will be two in-class midterm exams and one comprehensive final exam. All exams are closed-book and closed notes and are subject to the Rice University Honor Code. You will not be allowed to use a calculator on the exams. It is the policy of the mathematics department that no final may be given early to accommodate student travel plans. We will not know when the final in this course will be scheduled for some time. Therefore, if you should make plans for travel before the end of the final exam period, and it turns out that the final for this course is after your scheduled departure date, you will have to choose between keeping your plans and receiving a zero for the final, or incurring the cost for changing your plans and taking the final at its scheduled time. Thanks for your understanding.
It is your responsibility to inform yourself of the date, time and place of the exam. You should check the final exam schedule on the registrar's website to find out when and where your final exam will be.

Disability Support

Any student with a documented disability seeking academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with me during the first two weeks of class. All such discussions will remain as confidential as possible. Students with disabilities will need to also contact Disability Support Services in the Allen Center.

Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours. Additionally, students will also need to contact Disability Support Services in the Allen Center.

If you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs. Additionally, you will need to register with the Disability Support Services Office in the Allen Center.