Math 118r--Dynamical Systems

Course meets Tuesdays and Thursday, 8:30-10:00am in Science Center 507.
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Instructor: Prof. Daniel Goroff
Office: Science Center 430
Office Hours: Thursday, 11:30am-1:00pm
Phone: 495-2168
E-mail: goroff@math.harvard.edu
(Please put 118 in the subject line)
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Course Assistant:
Matthew Leingang
Office: Science Center 505g
Office Hours: Friday, 2-3pm. Also available by appointment or by chance.
E-mail: leingang@math.harvard.edu
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- Topics:
Iterated maps and chaos; existence and uniqueness theorems for flows;
qualitative study of equilibria and attractors; bifurcations; ergodic theory.
- Prerequisites:
Math 22, Math 25, Math 55, or Math 112. Math 101 with permission.
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Requirements:
During the term: weekly homework assignments earn up to 15 points each;
the midterm will be worth 60 points; and group and individual projects
count for another 60 points. The final will be worth the difference
between a fixed target of 330 and the total number of points you have
accumulated during the term. Thus, each point lost during the semester
is recoverable on the final. To diminish competition, there is no strict
curve. Roughly, we expect those who end up with at least 90% of the
target to receive an A of some kind, at least 80% to correspond to some
kind of B, etc. You are encouraged to discuss the course with
classmates, but work submitted in your name must represent your own
writing and, like any scholarly work, should also acknowledge the help
and references you have used.
- Texts:
- Introduction to Chaotic Dynamical Systems by Robert Devaney
(Number 58,284 and rising on
Amazon.com!)
- Dynamical Systems by Clark Robinson (available at the
Harvard Coop)
- Math 118 Notes by S. Sternberg and D. Goroff
(coursepack
sold by HPPS)
Other References (all in at least the Cabot Science Library):
- Differential Equations: A Dynamical Systems Approach by J.H. Hubbard and B.H. West (QA371.H77 1991)
- Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems, and Linear Algebra by M. Hirsch and S. Smale (QA3.P8 v.60, also in Birkhoff, HD 9.74.6)
- Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems by L. Perko
(QA372.P47 1996)
- Nonlinear Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems by
F. Verhulst (QA372.V4713 1996)
URL: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu
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