Math3071 Fall Semester 2005/2006 (06-1)

Numerical Solutions of Partial Differential Equations
MWF 11:00-11:50 Thackeray 627


Office Hours

MWF 1:00 - 2:00, and by appointment
Office: Thackeray 605
Phone: (412) 624-8338
E-mail: yotov@math.pitt.edu

This course is an introduction to modern numerical methods for solving partial differential equations. We will cover both finite difference and finite element methods. Accuracy, stability, and efficiency of the algorithms will be studied from both theoretical and computational standpoint.

Written homework and several computational projects will be assigned. A programming language of choice can be used. Help will only be provided for Matlab and Fortran. The Matlab language provides extensive library of mathematical and scientific function calls entirely built-in. Matlab is available on Unix and Windows in the university computing labs. The full set of manuals is on the web in html and also in Adobe PDF format. The "Getting Started" manual is a good place to begin and is available both in html format and in Adobe PDF format. The full reference manual as well as manuals for each of the many toolboxes are all available.


Course materials

  • Syllabus
  • Matlab Primer: pdf; postscript
  • Matlab Tutorial: Postscript; HTML
  • Introduction to Matlab exercises by Dr. Mike Sussman: Preliminaries; Beginning Matlab

    Homework Assignments

  • Homework 1, Due September 16, 2005: Chapter 1 #1.2, 1.4, 1.5
  • Homework 2, Due October 5, 2005: Chapter 3 #3.4, 3.6, 3.9, 3.11; Bonus: 3.7
  • Homework 3, Due October 19, 2005: Chapter 4 #4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.8a,b
  • Homework 4, Due November 4, 2005: Chapter 5 #5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11

    Computer Assignments

  • Project1, Due October 7, 2005: pdf file, ps file
  • Project2, Due October 28, 2005: pdf file, ps file
  • Project3, Due December 7, 2005: pdf file, ps file

    Exams

  • Exam 1 will be in class on Wed, October 26, 2005