Math 207A, Fall 2018

Course Information:

MAT 207A, Fall Quarter, 2018

Lectures: MWF 10:00–10:50 a.m., Physics 148

Texts (not required):

Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems, Gerald Teschl, AMS, 2012
Differential Dynamical Systems, James Meiss, revised edition, SIAM, 2017

Professor:

John Hunter
Office: MSB 3230
Office hours: W 2:30–3:30 p.m.

TA:

Jingyang Shu
Office: MSB 2123
Office hours: Th 3:00–4:00 p.m.

Academic Conduct:

The UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct is here.

Links

If we knew exactly the laws of nature and the situation of the universe at the initial moment, we could predict exactly the situation of that same universe at a succeeding moment. but even if it were the case that the natural laws had no longer any secret for us, we could still only know the initial situation approximately. If that enabled us to predict the succeeding situation with the same approximation, that is all we require, and we should say that the phenomenon had been predicted, that it is governed by laws. But it is not always so; it may happen that small differences in the initial conditions produce very great ones in the final phenomena. A small error in the former will produce an enormous error in the latter. Prediction becomes impossible, and we have the fortuitous phenomenon. (Henri Poincaré, 1903)

Announcement

Solutions to the final are here.

Important Dates

First class: Wed, Sept 26
Last class: Fri, Dec 7
Academic holidays: Mon, Nov 12; Thu-Fri Nov 22-23

Exams

There will be one midterm and an in-class final

Midterm: Wed, Nov 7 (in class)
Final: Wed, December 12, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Text

A preliminary version of the text by Teschl is available on the author's webpage.

Midterm

A rough list of the general topics we have covered, together with the corresponding Chapters in the texts, is here.

Solutions to the midterm are here.

Final

The final will be in our regular class room on Wed, December 12, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

It will cover the midterm topics plus material on bifurcation theory and maps. A rough list of the general topics together with the corresponding Chapters in the texts, is here.

Solutions to the final are here.

Homework

Problems sets will be assigned each week on this web page, and collected in class on Friday. It's fine to collaborate with other people on the homework (in fact, I encourage it), but you should write up your own solutions.