Linear Algebra
MATH 700, section 1, Fall, 2005

MW 4:40 - 5:55 in LC 303B, optional problem session F 3:30

Professor Matt Miller
miller@math.sc.edu
Department of Mathematics
University of South Carolina

  • Information[pdf] in printable form, updated for Fall, 2005
  • Class topics, assignments, and important dates
  • Feel free to drop by my office any time I am in, if you have questions. I will also see about scheduling a Friday afternoon optional problem session (preferably 3:30 - 4:30 rather than at the regular class time, so that you can go to the regular grad students' happy hour (social event) after class). Here you can work on problems at the board with advice from other students and me.
  • Exams from the current semester
  • Exam 1, Fall, 2005 slightly modified (as it should have been written)
  • Exam 2, Spring, 2005 with typos corrected
  • Final Exam, Spring, 2005 Solutions available on request, but all students who are preparing for the Qual (whether 700-701 or 700-706) should be able to do this exam with confidence. I urge you to redo this exam if you did less than almost perfectly, and have me look at your improved solutions, as a first step to studying for the Qual. Keep in mind that most of the questions are actually easier than Qual level problems; only 1de, 3, 5b, 8, and 10 begin to approach Qual level of difficulty.
  • Exams from past semesters
    It has been a long time since I last taught MATH 700, so I will point you to some links to my colleagues' pages, where you can find their exams for practice (and much else besides).
  • Professor Howard, Fall, 1999
  • Professor Kustin, Fall, 2003
  • About grades
  • Since this course is part of the Qualifying Exam, I endeavor to give you accurate feedback how I expect you will do on that exam. An "A" means that you should do some studying, but you are just about ready to take the exam. A "B+" means that I expect you will pass, but you will need to study hard, and a "B" means that you will have to study really hard. A "C+" or lower indicates that I don't believe you are ready to attempt the exam.
  • At the beginning of the course we will have some short quizzes that will not count in your grade, but are designed to refresh your memory of the mostly hand-computational material that you should have learned as an undergraduate. This material is essentially chapter 3 of your text. It is perfectly acceptable to use a calculator to do such computations, unless otherwise indicated. In fact it is desirable that you learn how to use a calculator to do these computations (such as computing the determinant or the inverse of a 3x3 or larger matrix with numerical entries).
  • Our goal is to understand vector spaces and linear transformations from a conceptual point of view. This means that most of your time will be spent in proving theorems or creating counterexamples, and building up a collection of critical and illustrative examples. It is one thing to watch me, and study your notes; it is quite another thing to do this on your own. For that reason, much homework will be assigned, some of which will be collected and graded. I am a very slow and meticulous grader, and I try to give lots of feedback.....so please be patient.
  • There will be two exams in class, a few quizzes, and a comprehensive final (which will, however, be more heavily weighted on the second half of the course, as the Qualifying exam also is). Each exam will be worth 100 points, the final 150 points, and the homework will be scaled to 120 points. The percentage score on your final will replace the lower of your two exam scores (if this helps you).
    • Last modified: December 14, 2005