Math 1470: Partial Differential Equations I

Fall Semester '09 (2101), Dr. Rubin

General Class Information

• Class Meetings: MWF, 2:00-2:50 PM, BENEDUM 1220
• Text: Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction, Second Edition, by Walter A. Strauss
• Office Hours: MF 3-4 PM, T 1:15-2 PM, and by appointment
• Grader: Chris Jones (csj3@pitt.edu)
• FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, December 16th, 10:00-11:50 AM

Full Syllabus

Agenda/Homework Problems

Below is the schedule of sections from Strauss to be covered, along with links to the handout for the week, extra handouts, and homework solutions.

• Weeks 1-2: M 8/31 - F 9/9 = What is a PDE? (1.1), Initial and Boundary Conditions (1.4), Well-Posed Problems (1.5). Partial derivative practice questions. Solutions to homework from Sections 1.1, 1.4. Quiz: Friday, September 11th.
• Week 3: M 9/14 - F 9/18 = First Order Linear Equations (1.2), Types of Second-Order Equations (1.6), The Wave Equation (2.1). Solutions to Week 3 homework.
• Week 4: M 9/21 - F 9/25 = The Wave Equation (2.1), Causality and Energy (2.2). Quiz: Wednesday, September 23rd. Notes for Friday, September 25. COMPLETE Solutions to Week 4 homework.
• Weeks 5-6: M 9/28 - W 10/7 = The Diffusion Equation (2.3), Diffusion on the Whole Real Line (2.4). Solutions to Weeks 5-6 homework from Section 2.3.MIDTERM 1 - Monday, October 5th, with take-home part due Wednesday, October 7th.
• Weeks 6-7: F 10/9 - F 10/16 = Separation of Variables: The Dirichlet Condition (4.1) and the Neumann Condition (4.2). Solutions to homework problems from Section 2.4. Solutions to homework problems from Sections 4.1-4.2.
• Week 8: M 10/19 - F 10/23 = The Robin Condition (4.3) and Nonhomogeneous Boundary Conditions. Quiz: Wednesday, October 21st. Solutions to homework problems from Week 8.
• Week 9: M 10/26 - F 10/30 = Nonhomogeneous Boundary Conditions, The Fourier Series Coefficients (5.1), Even, Odd, Periodic and Complex Functions (5.2). Solutions to homework problems from Week 9.
• Weeks 10-11: M 11/2 - M 11/9 = Orthogonality and General Fourier Series (5.3), parts of Completeness (5.4), and a small part of Completeness and the Gibbs Phenomenon (5.5). Quiz 4: Wednesday, October 4th, on Sections 5.1-5.2. Solutions to homework problems from Weeks 10-11.
• Weeks 11-12: W 11/11 - F 11/20 = Laplace's Equation (6.1), Rectangles and Cubes (6.2). Wednesday, November 18th: Midterm Exam II. Solutions to homework problems from Weeks 11-12.
• Weeks 13-14: M 11/23 - F 12/4 = Poisson's Formula (6.3), Circles, Wedges, and Annuli (6.4), Opportunities and Dangers (8.1), Approximations of Diffusion (8.2).

Back to my homepage.