This is the homepage for Math 81, Partial differential equations (MWF 11:30 - 12:20 in Dupont 142B), taught by Jim Wiseman, Spring 2002.
Office: 3 Whittier Place, Room 255, 690-5763.
Email: jwisema1@swarthmore.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 5:00 - 6:30 (Math 81 students have priority), Wednesday 5:00 - 6:30 (Math 30 students have priority), and by appointment.
Text book: Walter A. Strauss, Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction, available at the bookstore. There is a list of errata at http://www.math.brown.edu/~wstrauss/textbook.html .
Plan: The heart of the course is chapters 1-6 of Strauss (leaving out chapter 3 and with extra material for chapter 5). Then we'll cover selected topics from the second half of the book.. We'll spend the last two weeks or so on the mathematics of musical instruments. A more detailed schedule is at www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/jwisema1/math81/syllabus.html , but it's subject to change.
Homework: Working problems is vital to learning math; there will be homework assignments every week, due in class on Wednesdays (I will accept them in my office until 5:00 Wednesday). Assignments will be posted at www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/jwisema1/math81/homework.html - you are responsible for checking the assignments, as I won't give them in class. It's very important that you keep up with the homework: if you haven't figured out Monday's lecture, Wednesday's will probably be pretty frustrating.
Group work: I strongly encourage you to work on the homework
in groups. I suggest that you work on the problems by yourself first,
making a note of anything giving you trouble; then meet with your group
and work through the remaining problems together; and finally write up
the solutions by yourself.
Every group member must write up his or her own
solutions independently; just copying the group's answers is plagiarism
and is unacceptable.
Getting help: As Talking Barbie says, "Math class is tough."
(Unless she's the hacked version - then she says, "Eat lead, Cobra.")
Chances are that sooner or later you'll get stuck on something, so don't
get frustrated. Think hard, and if you're still stuck, do something
else for a while. (It's amazing how often that works.)
My office hours are above - these are times when
I'm guaranteed to be in my office and willing to talk. If you want
to see me at other times, the best thing to do is to set up an appointment
with me by email or after class. Of course, you're welcome to just
drop by my office, as long as you don't mind if I'm not there or don't
have time to talk.
In general, a good resource is the Math
Clinic in Cornell Library, which runs Sunday-Thursday, 7 - 10 pm, but
I don't know how many of the clinicians know PDEs.
Finally, I can't emphasize enough that your classmates
are your best source of help.
Grading: Homework 15%, each midterm 25%, final 35%
Exam schedule:
Feedback: I'm very interested in your feedback throughout the class: what you like, what you don't, what's working for you, what isn't - anything that you think might help me make the course better. If you have any comments (and you probably should), the easiest thing to do is to talk to me (or send email) about them. If you want to remain anonymous, you can fill out the anonymous feedback form on my feedback page.
Webpage: Please check my webpage for updated information.
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/jwisema1/math81