Fall Semester 2011

Perspectives of Mathematics I

Syllabus

Quick Links:

Class mailing list for announcements and discussion
Homework sheets

Summary:

This course is an overview and an introduction to selected topics from different areas of mathematics which are not usually covered in introductory classes. The goal is to develop an understanding for interesting mathematical questions beyond the standard first and second year curriculum.

Contact Information:

Instructor:	Marcel Oliver
Email:	m.oliver@jacobs-university.de
Phone:	200-3212
Office hours:	Tu, We 10:00 in Research I, 107

Instructor:	Dierk Schleicher
Email:	d.schleicher@jacobs-university.de
Phone:	200-3213
Office hours:	TBA

Time and Place:

Lectures:

Mo 11:15, We 14:15 in East Hall 4

Selection of Books for Presentations:

Dmitry Fuchs and Serge Tabachnikov, Mathematical Omnibus: Thirty Lectures on Classic Mathematics, American Mathematical Society, 2007.
Dierk Schleicher and Malte Lackmann (eds.), An Invitation to Mathematics: From Competitions to Research, Springer-Verlag, 2011.
John B. Conway, Mathematical Connections: A Capstone Course, American Mathematical Society, 2010.
Jiří Matoušek, Thirty-three Miniatures: Mathematical and Algorithmic Applications of Linear Algebra, American Mathematical Society, 2010.
Martin Aigner, Günter M. Ziegler, and Karl H. Hofmann, Proofs from THE BOOK, Springer-Verlag, 2010.
Kathleen T. Alligood, Chaos: an introduction to dynamical systems, Springer-Verlag, 1997.

Course requirements:

During weeks 2-10, each student gives a 20-25 minute presentation on a topic related to the lectures. (10% of final grade.)
The presentation must be written up as a LaTeX document of 2-3 pages. (15% of final grade.)
During weeks 11-14, students give a final presentation on a topic of their choice. (20% of final grade.)
The final presentation should be written up as a LaTeX document of usually not more than 10 pages. The final presentation and the associated paper may be worked on in teams of two. (25% of final grade.)
Several homework sheets and/or quizzes will be given. (30% of final grade)
The instructors may raise or lower the final grade by one grade step for good, respectively poor class room participation. (Attendance, being on-time, questions, participation in discussions, respect for others, etc.)
There is no final exam in this course.

Tentative Class Schedule

05/09/2011:	Introduction
07/09/2011:
12/09/2011:	Mihai Munteanu, The Logistic Map for mu=4
14/09/2011:	Timo Lücke, Sharkovski's theorem
19/09/2011:	Alex Ciolan, Fractals
21/09/2011:	Carmela Acevedo, Minkowski dimension
26/09/2011:
28/09/2011:
05/10/2011:
10/10/2011:
12/10/2011:
19/10/2011:
24/10/2011:
26/10/2011:
31/10/2011:
02/11/2011:
07/11/2011:
09/11/2011:
14/11/2011:
16/11/2011:
21/11/2011:
23/11/2011:
28/11/2011:
30/11/2011:
05/12/2011:
07/12/2011:

Last modified: 2011/09/21
This page: http://math.jacobs-university.de/oliver/teaching/jacobs/fall2011/math291/index.html
Marcel Oliver (m.oliver@jacobs-university.de)