Math 3435 PDE

Basic Information

Instructor: Luke Rogers
Instructor's Office Hours: Tues 2pm-3:30pm, Thurs 11am-12:15pm. Appointments can be made for Fridays between 10am and 1:15pm, and possibly other times on other days, though not Mondays or Wednesdays. Office hours will be held in MONT 339.
Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays, Section 1, 9:30-10:45 MONT 113 and Section 2, 12:30-1:45 MONT 227.
Textbook: Partial Differential Equations: an introduction, 2nd edition, by Walter A. Strauss
Exams: Midterm in class Thursday 10/17. Final will be scheduled by registrars office
Grading Scheme: Homework 30%, Midterm 30% each, Final 40%.

What is expected of you

It is expected that you will attend all classes, midterm and the final exam, and complete all homework. Questions on midterms and the final will usually be similar to and occasionally identical to homework questions, so doing the homework will also be beneficial to you on exams. You are expected to read the book outside class. Reading to be completed before each class is listed in the schedule.

Anything covered in class may appear on an exam, whether or not it is in the book. Anything in the sections of the book that are listed on the schedule below may appear on an exam, whether or not it was discussed in class. It cannot be emphasized too much that mathematics is learned by doing, so the work you do outside class will be critical to your success in this course.

Text and Homework

The text is Partial Differential Equations: an introduction, 2nd edition, by Walter A. Strauss. Readings and homework are assigned from the text, so you need access to it.

Homework will be assigned for each class and is due before the next class, as listed below. Reading and homework assignments may be modified during the semester if we progress more rapidly or more slowly through the text than anticipated.

Solutions for Homework 1
Solutions for Homework 2
Solutions for Homework 3
Solutions for Homework 4
Solutions for Homework 5
Solutions for Homework 6
Solutions for Homework 7
Solutions for Homework 8
Solutions for Homework 9
Solutions for Homework 10
Solutions for Homework 11
Solutions for Homework 12

Course Content

I intend that we will cover more or less all of Chapters 1-6 of Strauss. The schedule (see below) will be updated, if necessary, as the class proceeds. Note that the reading to be completed before class is on the schedule.

Help

If you want help with the course, you should come to see me during office hours. For other types of support you might look to the Academic support services office or, if appropriate, the Center for Students with Disabilities.

Midterms

Midterms are closed book - no notes, texts or electronic reproductions of these are permitted. No cellphones, laptops, tablets or other devices that can be used to communicate or to connect to the internet are permitted. You may bring a calculator, though I do not want it to be one that could be used to store notes or formulas, or to compute integrals. The calculator will be of purely psychological benefit - the test is designed so that a calculator is neither necessary nor even particularly useful.

What to know for the midterm

Midterm Solutions

When the midterms are over, solutions will be posted here. Depending on the class you may need Midterm 1 Solutions or Midterm 2 Solutions.

Final

The final exam is scheduled by the Registrar's office; the date will be posted here when available.

What to know for the final

Office hours before final

I will be available before the final exam. Dates and times will be posted here.

Integrity

As you know, UConn has a Code of Conduct that includes a section on Academic Integrity. I expect you to follow it. Breaches of academic integrity will be reported to the Dean of Students and may lead to significant penalties. One point I wish to be clear on is that you are permitted to discuss homework problems and their solutions with your fellow students, but must write up your solutions yourself: I do not wish to see exact duplication of solutions, even by groups who discovered the solution together. I am also aware that enterprising students are sometimes able to find solutions or parts thereof online. I do not wish to grade duplicates of such solutions, and will consider replication of them to be plagiarism.

Schedule

Date Topics Before Class Reading HW Due
Tuesday 8/29 Section 1.1. Prereqs from Appendices 1,2,3. Pages 1-5. Appendices A.1,2,3
Thursday 8/31 Section 1.2. pages 6-10. Try exercises 1.2.2, 1.2.7.
Tuesday 9/5 Sections 1.3, 1.4. pages 10-20. Try exercises 1.3.2, 1.3.3.
Thursday 9/7 Section 1.4 pages 20-25. Try exercise 1.4.3. 1.1.3, 1.1.7, 1.2.3, 1.2.6, 1.3.3 , 1.3.6
Tuesday 9/12 Sections 1.5 and 1.6. pages 25-31.
Thursday 9/14 Discussion of problems from Chapter 1. Look back through suggested exercises and homework, bring questions. 1.4.1, 1.4.4, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.6.2, 1.6.5
Tuesday 9/19 Section 2.1 pages 33-38. Try exercise 2.1.5
Thursday 9/21 Sections 2.2 and 2.3 pages 39-45. Try exercises 2.2.6, 2.3.3. 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.8,
Tuesday 9/26 Sections 2.4 and 2.5 pages 46-56
Thursday 9/28 Discussion of problems from Chapter 2 Look back through suggested exercises and homework, bring questions. 2.2.5, 2.3.2, 2.3.4, 2.4.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.9, 2.4.17
Tuesday 10/3 Sections 3.1 and 3.2. pages 57-63. pages 63-66 are interesting, but we will skip this material. Try exercise 3.1.4.
Thursday 10/5 Section 3.3 and beginning of 3.4 pages 67-75. Try exercise 3.3.2 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.2.2, 3.2.5, 3.2.6
Tuesday 10/10 Rest of Section 3.4. pages 71-79. Try exercises 3.4.4, 3.4.5 (hard), 3.4.12.
Thursday 10/12 Section 3.5 and problems from chapter 3. pages 80-83. Look back through suggested exercises and homework, bring questions. 3.3.1, 3.3.3, 3.4.3, 3.4.10, 3.4.12, 3.4.13
Tuesday 10/17 Section 4.1 pages 83-89
Thursday 10/19 MIDTERM EXAM
Tuesday 10/24 Section 4.2 and beginning of 4.3 pages 90-95
Thursday 10/26 Section 4.3 (remainder of) and problems from chapter 4 pages 96-103. Look back through suggested exercises and homework, bring questions. 4.1.1, 4.1.4, 4.1.6, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.3.2
Tuesday 10/31 Sections 5.1 and 5.2 pages 104-117. Try exercises 5.1.2 and 5.2.5.
Thursday 11/2 Section 5.3 pages 118-124. Try exercises 5.3.2 and 5.3.6. 4.3.6, 4.3.10, 4.3.13, 4.3.14, 5.1.5, 5.1.8, 5.2.1
Tuesday 11/7 Section 5.4 pages 124-134. try exercises 5.4.1 and 5.4.4.
Thursday 11/9 Section 5.5 pages 136-145 5.2.9, 5.3.2, 5.3.6, 5.3.9, 5.4.3, 5.4.6, 5.4.18
Tuesday 11/14 Section 5.6 pages 147-151
Thursday 11/16 Problems from chapter 5 Look back through suggested exercises and homework, bring questions. 5.5.4, 5.5.7, 5.6.1, 5.6.4, 5.6.8, 5.6.10
Tuesday 11/21 and Thursday 11/23 Thanksgiving Break
Tuesday 11/28 Section 6.1 pages 152-160. Try exercises 6.1.6 and 6.1.7.
Thursday 11/30 Section 6.2 and beginning of 6.3 pages 161-168. Try exercise 6.2.3. 6.1.2, 6.1.5, 6.1.8
Tuesday 12/5 Section 6.3 and 6.4. pages 168-177. Try exercises 6.3.1 and 6.4.8
Thursday 12/7 Review and problem session 6.2.3, 6.2.6, 6.3.1, 6.4.2, 6.4.7