Linear Algebra
MATH 700, section 1, Fall, 2008

TTh 4:40-5:55 in LC 310

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

  • Information[pdf] in printable form, updated for Fall, 2008 (also distributed in hard copy).
  • Class topics, assignments, and important dates Sorry, this has not yet been totally updated. But if you stay above the green line it will be OK.
  • 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 3:00-4:00 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
  • Exam 2
  • Final Exam
  • Quizzes from the current semester
  • Quiz 1
  • Quiz 2
  • Stuff from past semesters
  • Exam 1, Fall, 2005 slightly modified (as it should have been written)
  • Exam 2, Fall, 2005 with typos corrected
  • Final Exam, Fall, 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. 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.
  • Link to "Old Quals"; use the left hand column marked 700-701
  • Homework from 2005 Note that a different text was used.
    • Prior to 2005 it had 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 McNulty's exams from 1997
  • Exam 0 George counts in the same way that Bourbaki and Grothendieck did.
  • Exam 1
  • Exam 2
  • Final Exam
  • 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.
  • 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: October 14, 2008