CS412 : Introduction to Numerical Methods

Spring Semester 2011

General Information

Lecture meeting time: TR 9:30 am - 10:45 am
Lecture location : Engineering Hall, Room 1227

Instructor : Eftychios Sifakis
Office: Computer Sciences building, Room 6355
Email : sifakis *at* cs *dot* wisc *dot* edu
Office hours : TR 11:00 am - 12:00 noon (after class)

TAs:
Nisha Kiran [email] - Office hours : Mondays 11am - 12:30pm, Computer Sciences bldg, Room 3395
Nathanael Fillmore [email] - Office hours : Wednesdays 8:30am - 9:30am, Computer Sciences bldg, Room 3379

Recommended textbook : J. Mathews and K. Fink, Numerical Methods Using MATLAB, 4th Ed., Prentice Hall.

Additional documentation

MATLAB's Primer, 3rd Edition : [PDF]

MATLAB Basics (slides from in-class presentation) : [PDF]

Practice problems for Midterm #1 : [PDF]

Solutions to Midterm #1 problems: [PDF]

Practice problems for Midterm #2 : [PDF]

Solutions to Practice Midterm #2: [PDF]

Solutions to Midterm #2 problems: [PDF]

Practice Final : [PDF]

Solutions to Practice Final : [PDF]

Homework assignments

Homework Set #1 : [PDF] [Due Tuesday 2/8/2011, in class]

Homework Set #2 : [PDF] [Due Thursday 2/24/2011, in class]

Homework Set #3 : [PDF] [test m-file for problem 3] [Due Thursday 3/10/2011, in class]

Homework Set #4 : [PDF] [Due Tuesday 4/5/2011, in class]

Homework Set #5 : [PDF] [test m-file for problem 5] [Due Thursday 4/21/2011, in class]

Homework Set #6 : [PDF] [Due Thursday 5/5/2011, in class]

Lecture notes

Thursday January 20th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 1.2]
Tuesday January 25th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 2.1,2.4]
Thursday January 27th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 2.1,2.4]
Tuesday February 1st 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 2.4]
Thursday February 3rd 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 4.2,4.3]
Tuesday February 8th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 4.2,4.3]
Thursday February 10th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 4.4]
Tuesday February 15th 2011 : [PDF]
Thursday February 17th 2011 : [PDF]
Tuesday February 22nd 2011 : [PDF]
Thursday February 24th 2011 : [PDF]
Tuesday March 1st 2011 : [PDF]
Thursday March 10th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 3.1,3.2]
Tuesday March 22nd 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 3.1,3.2]
Thursday March 24th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 3.2,3.3,3.5]
Tuesday March 29th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 3.3,3.4,3.5]
Thursday March 31st 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 3.4,3.5,3.6]
Tuesday April 5th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 3.6,5.1]
Thursday April 7th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 5.1,7.1]
Tuesday April 12th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 7.1,7.2]
Thursday April 14th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 7.1,7.2]
Tuesday April 19th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 9.1,9.2 (partial overlap)]
Thursday April 21st 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 9.1,9.2 (partial overlap)]
Tuesday May 3rd 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 9.1,9.2,9.7 (partial overlap)]
Thursday May 5th 2011 : [PDF] [Corresponding textbook chapters: 9.1,9.2,9.7 (partial overlap)]

Grading policy

Grades will be awarded based on bi-weekly homework, two 75-minute in-class midterms and a mandatory final exam.

The final grade will be the best of the following 2 schemes:

Scheme 1 : 25% x (homework grade) + 20% x (1st midterm grade) + 20% x (2nd midterm grade) + 35% x (final exam grade)
Scheme 2 : 25% x (homework grade) + 30% x (best of the 2 midterm grades) + 45% x (final exam grade)

Missing a midterm does not disqualify a student from passing the class (best of the 2 grading schemes above will still apply) but you must take the final exam in order to pass the class. Please note the following exam times on your schedules:

Midterm 1 : Tuesday March 8th, in-class (9:30 am - 10:45 am)
Midterm 2 : Thursday April 28th, in-class (9:30 am - 10:45 am)

Homework problems will be posted every second week on this webpage, and will be due in class on the Tuesday lecture two weeks later. No late homework will be accepted and it is also not acceptable to turn in your homework after the instructor has left class on the Thursday due date. In order to accommodate special unforseen circumstances that may prevent a student from turning in homework on time, the one homework assignment with the lowest grade will not be used in determining the homework grade average.

If necessary, students may turn in their homework assignment early, either directly to the instructor in class, or by sliding it under the office door (Computer Sciences Rm. 6355) before the beginning of class on the homework due date.