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Latest news

There is now a list of problems for students to solve and present on the 27/1. At least initially I will use doodle where you can sign up if you are prepared to present a solution. The link will be removed on Monday evening (late) the 26/1. Click on the link next to the problems to sign up.
Now the instructions for the first part of the computer assignment are available (see below).
Please look at the course diary: that is where most news and important information will be put.
Part two of the computer assignment can now be found in the instructions.
Something about the Cayley-Hamilton theorem is available in a short note (N.B. there is a new version from 2010-02-08).
There is now a list with results/solutions to some of the proposed exercises
there are exerecises for chapter 3 listed below. We will use next tuesday (the 16/2) for them.
Moved lectures: The two moved lectures will take place Wednesday 17/2 and Wednesday the 24/2 at 10-12. I will announce the room here
The exercises: Please try to participate in the problems classes. It is important to try to solve the problems, and if you have solved them, it is a very good idea to share the ideas with the other persons in the class.
The small note on topology that I have promised is now available
The computer lab: You are allowed to send me the lab reports until Friday the 12 March (so one day after the written exam). In the lab instructions, I say that there will be one more part to do, but it is ready as it is, there will be no assignment except those that are already in the lab instructions version 18th February 2010.
Some information about the exam (including a list of theorems) is given here
Updated information about the exam
- I will not mark the written exam as severely as indicated below: I will give marks for a problem also if I do not consider the solution to be "essentially correct" in all details.
- For one of the theorems in the list (Theorem 6.1), I did not give proof in the lectures, and hence I will not require that you do that either.
- The exam will take place in the V-building.
- In the course diary you can find pdf-files for some of my lecture notes for the last couple of lectures, including the exercises of today.
- Please observe that there is a course evaluation form. Please download this and hand it in the the student office at Mathematical sciences. I should have seen that a couple of you take the responsibility this evaluation. Are there any volonteers at this late moment? Please send me an e-mail.
If you are interesed in writing a masters thesis in a related field, you might be intereted in a couple of problems listed at Fraunhofer Chalmers Reserach Institute . The one about identifiability analysis concerns a particular kind of dynamical systems.
The exam has been graded, and reported. If you want to see your exam paper, please come to my office.
There will be a second possibility to take the exam in the beginning of June. Then the third possibility will be in august.
The June exam will take place on June 4.

Examiner and lecturer

Bernt Wennberg, wennbergchalmers.se, http://www.math.chalmers.se/~wennberg/

Course literature

Gerald Teschl: Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems ,
lecture notes avaliable from the author's web page
- Ch 1: This is part of the course, but will essentially not be covered during lectures, and only to a small extent in problems classes.
- Ch 2: All of this chapter belongs to the course
- Ch 3: The part on periodic systems is not an essential part of the course
D.D. Arrowsmith and C.M.Place: An introduction to dynamical systems, Cambridge University Press.
available at Cremona.

Ch 1-- Ch. 3 : Much of the materials in these chapters is covered, although with varying depth
Ch 4: The notion of bifurcations

Instructions for the computer exercises, which will be made available from this web page.

Course structure

-- The course is decribed in the course syllabus, which states the learning goals of the course. From a practical point of view, the course consists of lectures, exercise classes and a compulsory computer assignment. I do expect active participation in the exercise classes, and that many of the problems and their solutions will be presented by a student rather than by the teacher (of course the teacher will be present, to help out if it is needed).
-- The course is new, and hence there are no old exam papers to look at. However, the previous course, MMA420, which was replaced by MMA 421, overlaps with this one, and therefore exam papers from that course may give some indication of what is expected
-- I will try to keep an up to date course diary , in which the progress of the course is recorded, together with for example comments on exercises.

Preliminary plan for lectures and classes

Day	Topic, chapter	Comments, recommended exercises
19/1	i) Introduction to the course ii) T: ch1 and T:ch2.1 iii) problems and examples from T:ch1	all problems from T:ch1
22/1	i) T:ch 2.2 ii) presentation of some problems for next week
26/1	i) T: ch 2.3, T: ch 2.4 ii) student's exercises,	student's exercises: T1.11, T1.12, T1.14ii, T1.19, T2.3, T2.5, T2.7
29/1	i) T: ch 2.5 ii) Introduction to the computer exercises
2/2	T:ch 3.1	T:1.26, T:1.27, T:1.29, T:2.8, T:2.10, T:2.11, T:2.15, T:2.17, T:2.18, T:2.19
5/2	T: ch 3.2	we will try to find a new date for this lecture
9/2	T: ch 3.4	T: 3.1 (we already did half), 3.9, 3.11, 3.13, 3.15, 3.21, 3.23, 3.28, 3.29
12/2	T: ch 6.2, AP: ch 1.1
16/2	T: ch 6.3-6.4, AP: ch 1.2-1.4
17/2	Replaced lecture 10-12 room MVL14
19/2	T: ch 7, AP: ch 2.1, 2,2, 2.4	T: 3.28, 3.32, 6.2, 6.3, 6.5, 6.6, 6.8, 6.9
23/2	T: ch 8.1
24/2	Replaced lecture 10-12 room MVL14
26/2
2/3	T: ch 12, AP: ch 1.2	T:7.1, 7.2, 7.4, 7.5, 7.7, 7.9, 7.12
5/3
9/3	Summing up the course
11/3	EXAM

Computer assignment

The purpose of the computer assignments is to
1) give a deeper understanding of the theory that is presented in the lectures.
2) give a training in the use of mathematical software.
The assignments are compulsory, and the hand-ins (written reports) will be graded, and they will contribute to the final marks.
The lab instructions are written in a pdf-document . Please check that you are using an up to date version of the document.

Assessment

To pass this course you should pass the written exam and complete the computer assignments.

Written examination

The written exam has two parts: one that consists of four very basic problems, and one that consists of four problems that require a deeper understanding of the course To pass the exam you must essentially complete the first part without errors, while higher grades can only be obtained by also giving correct solutions to the problems in the second part.

During the exam the following aids are permitted: only pencil and eraser, no books, notes, calculators
Bring ID and receipt for your student union fee

You will be notified the result of your exam by email from LADOK (This is done automatically as soon as the exams have been marked an the results are registered)
The exams will then be kept at the students' office in the Mathematical Sciences building.
Check that the number of points and your grade given on the exam and registered in LADOK coincide.
Complaints of the marking should be written and handed in at the ...

Computer assignment

All hand-in shall be composed individually. (However, when working with the assignments, cooperation is encouraged.) The hand-ins should be delivered in the form a pdf-file sent to the examinor no later than the date of the written exam. The reports should be sufficiently complete to be read independently.

Course evaluation

In the beginning of the course, two student representatives for the course will be will be selected, who will meet with the lecturer for a halftime evaluation of course. A final evaluation will then take place in the end of the course. Click to down-load a course evaluation form. Please print the document, fill in your assesments, and deliver the form to the students' office.