MATH 261 (Fall 2006)

2006 - 07 Fall

MATH 261: Linear Algebra I

Some Pictures

Announcements:

Click here to see the letter grades.
Make-up exam will be on 20 January 2007, Saturday at 11.00 in M-105. (Announced on 9 Jan 2007.)
Third exam places are arranged according to lastnames:
M-04 A-�, M-05 D-i, M-06 K-P, M-07 S-Z.
The best date for the make-up exam seems to be 20 January Saturday. Please write to one of the instructors if you need to take the make-up exam and object to this date. (Announced on 28 Dec 2006.)
Exercise sheet for the third exam. .pdf .dvi
Second exam results are posted. Check the announcement boards on the first floor of the department. You can see your exam papers at Erkan Murat Turkan's office (Z-42) on 26 and 28 December between 10.40 and 12.30.
Exercise sheet for the second exam. .pdf .dvi
You can learn your first midterm grade now.
If you are a student taking MATH 261, then you can subscribe the e-mail group. Please write your name and student number in the slot provided for subscription.

Lectures:

Section 01: Tuesday 13.40-15.30 (M-105) Thursday 13.40-15.30 (M-13)
Section 02: Monday 13:40-15:30 (M-104) Wednesday 13:40-15:30 (M-104)

Textbook:

Linear Algebra 1, Cemal Ko�, METU, Ankara, 1998. (You can buy a copy from Ahmet �nal.)

People and Office Hours:

Section 01: Yasemin Talu -- Monday and Wednesday 12.30-13.30 (M-223)
Section 02: Ay�e Berkman -- Monday 10.40-11.30 and Wednesday 15.40-16.30 (M-242)
Both Sections: Erkan Murat T�rkan -- Tuesday and Thursday 10.40-12.30 (Z-42)

Exams:

Exam 1: 7 November 2006, Tuesday 17:40
Contents: Everything in sections 1.1-1.7 (inclusive), except the LU-decomposition.
Exam 2: 5 December 2006, Tuesday 17:40
Contents: All of Chapter 2, except pages 192 - 203 (Intersections, Sums, Direct Sums).
Exam 3: 12 January 2007, Friday 16:30
Contents: "Intersections, Sums, Direct Sums and Quotients" from Chapter 2 and everything from Chapter 3 (pages 192 - 282). (This means, in Exam 3 there will not be direct questions on the former topics, but you may (and will) need to know the contents of Chapter 1 and 2 to be able to solve the questions.)

Grading:

Exam 1 - 30 points
Exam 2 - 35 points
Final - 35 points
Although a curve based on the distribution of total grades will be consulted; the letter grades will be mainly determined by a system similar to Catalog and this will be done AFTER Exam 3.

Make-up Exam: There will be a make-up exam after Exam 3 covering all the topics. The make-up exam may be substituted for only one exam that is missed. (In order to take the make-up exam you must consult one of the instructors.)

Outline of the course:

1. Groups, rings, fields. Matrices.
2. Addition of matrices, multiplication of matrices by scalars, matrix multiplication. Row equivalence.
3. Invertibility. Systems of linear equations.
4-5. Determinants
6-7. Vector spaces
8-10. Linear dependence, bases.
11. Linear transformations.
12. Kernel, image.
13. L(V,W)
14. Matrix representations.

Exercises:

Solving exercises (NOT reading the solutions but really solving them) is an essential part of every math course and MATH 261 is no exception. To start studying for the exam the day before is not a good idea, because there is simply no time to work on all the exercises. Also one needs time to digest the course material. The best way to digest abstract concepts is to play with them! Therefore, we recommend you to solve the exercises of a section within the same week that the section is covered in the class. Good luck and have fun!

Suggested Problems:
Section 1.1: 2, 8
Section 1.2: 1(b,c), 6, 7
Section 1.3: 2, 3b, 4, 13
Section 1.4: 1(A²), 6, 7, 9, 11
Section 1.5: All.
Section 1.6: All, except 19 and 20.
Section 1.7: All, except 24.

Section 2.2: 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48.

Section 3.1: 1(b,d), 4, 5, 6 (If exists, describe T, find Ker(T) and Im(T).), 7, 8.
Section 3.2: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 16 (Your solution of 16 must not exceed two lines.).
Section 3.3: 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14 (Definition: f: V--> R annihilates v means, f(v)=0.), 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 28.
Section 3.4 : 1, 2, 3, 4.

Visit this page frequently to see the future announcements and changes.

Last updated on 28 December 2006.