Linear algebra part 2, Spring 2017

Change in course format

Please note that there will be weekly tests in the Werkcolleges, which will count towards your final grade.

Teacher: David Holmes.

Weekly test grades

The weekly test grades are available here.

Organisation

For the course "Linear algebra 2" (Lineaire Algebra 2) there are lectures ("Hoorcolleges") and exercise classes ("Werkcolleges"). In each werkcollege the last 20 minutes will be a test on the material from the course up to that point. This will count towards your final grade.

The first lecture is on Monday 10 April at 13:45 in room B.02 (Snellius).

The first test is on Thursday 13 April at 11:15 in room B.02 (Snellius).

See timetable here.

Required Literature

We will follow closely parts of the book "Linear algebra and its applications" by David Lay. Every student will need a copy of the book; for example, weekly exercises will be set from the book, and the tests will contain similar questions.

Where and when?

Timetable.

Exam is vrijdag 23-06-2017, 10:00-13:00 uur in zaal 407-409, B02 en B03.

Assessment

Weekly tests

As noted above, there will be a short test held every week during the Werkcollege.

Examinations

There is one exam for the course, after the end of the course (vrijdag 23-06-2017, 10:00-13:00 uur in zaal 407-409, B02 en B03, see timetable). The exam will last 3 hours. It will cover material from the whole course, including that already covered in the weekly tests.

Past exam papers

A good number of past exam papers are available here. Some have solutions, some not. Please be aware that the course content has evolved, so there may be questions you cannot reasonably answer, and some topics may not be covered. But this should give you plenty of questions to practise on.

Calculating the final grade

Firstly, the weekly tests. There will be 6 tests in total. Your best 4 marks will count. Write W for the average of your best 4 tests. Write E for your grade on the final exam.

The total examination grade is is then the weighted average:

Final grade = 0.25*W + 0.75 * E.

Homework and classes

Each week, some problems from the book will be suggested. These will not be graded, and will not count towards the final grade. However, you are extremely strongly recommended to attempt all the problems - the problems in the short tests and the final exam will be similar, and past experience suggests that ability to do he homework problems is a very strong predictor of success in the course. The problems will be discussed during the classes, and you will have the opportunity to obtain help on problems you found difficult.

Office hours

Office hours of the lecturer will be from 15:30 -16:30 on Mondays (or by appointment) in room 233 in Snellius.

Content and detailed timetable

The first column is the date of the monday of the week (note the lectures and the exercise classes are on thursdays). The second column refers to chapters of the course book "Linear algebra and its applications" [Lay]. The final column contains the reccomended exercises from [loc.cit]; `H1.1:4,8' means exercises 4 and 8 from the end of chapter 1.1 of the book.

Week begins	Lecture	Homework
10/04/2017	4.1, 4.2	Homework sheet
17/04/2017	4.3, 4.4	Homework sheet
1/05/2017	4.5, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2	Homework sheet 1. Homework sheet 2.
08/05/2017	5.3, 6.1	Homework sheet
15/05/2017	6.2 6.3, 6.4 (not QR factorisation)	Homework sheet.
22/05/2017	6.6 to end of example 1. Start reading 7.1 (not the spectral theorem).	Homework sheet. Start revising for exam. Attempt the LA2 2016 retake exam (not the LAB exam) ready for next lecture.
29/05/2017	7.1	Homework sheet. Test on Thursday as usual. Continue revising for the exam.

--> At present this timetable is only approximate, and will be updated during the semester.

Links

Course website for the previous year.

Course website for two years ago.

Timetable.

David Holmes <holmesdst@math.leidenuniv.nl>