Provisional lecture notes will be provided below in advance of the course. The course is defined by the lectures I give and the exam is based on this (in addition to the homework sheets I produce which are used to prepare students for the type and range of questions I plan to use to assess the course). The lecture notes may be updated after the lectures to constitute a best estimate written record of the lectures I've given, although it is not possible to capture everything that is said (or written) in lectures.
The course will be delivered in person with 3 lectures a week over 10 weeks.
Homework in weeks 4 and 8 will be assessed HWs and count 5 per cent each to the final unit mark.
Rubric on the front of the exam paper:
Lecture feedback
You can submit anonymous feedback on the lectures here and I will post my response below
Q:
Hi, just to double-check, are we expected to be able to answer
questions on linear shooting methods, for example, parts b,c, and d in
question 4 of the 2021 past paper?
I didn't cover shooting methods, only spectral methods for BVPs.
The previous lecturer of this course set that exam and had covered
this as part of his course. I will only set questions on things I
taught and everything I test will be covered by similar examples
on the homework sheets.
Q:
Are we expected to show working of trivial things like simultaneous
equations?
A: You need to work out the answers and show whatever working is
required to do this. Neat handwriting improves my marking mood more
than anything.
Q: Hi, I'm just wondering how long you have taught the course for, so
which past papers did you write?
A: Not long enough for my handwriting style to change.
If your revision is focused on how to predict what question I'm going to
set then things are not good.
Q:
In 2020, question 4, part b, why for the Richardson extrapolation do
they do 1/3[4N1(h) - N2(2h)] to get an approximation but in the
lecture notes we do 1/3[4N2(h) - N2(2h)] ?
A: In the solutions to 2020 Q4 there's a clear typo, since N_2 is not
defined and the formula only make sense (and only works) if it's N_1.
I mean, Richardson extrapolation should be derived, not remembered.
So if you go back to the definition of N_1(h) and calculate N_1(2h)
then you should see how to get the formula with error O(h^4)
Q:
Is it possible to get the solution to 1d from the 2016 exam please?
A: Here
Q: In the 2021 exam, question 4 part a, how do we cancel out the h
squared in the equations to then put into the matrix? Thanks
A: There's an explicit step written out where the equations are multiplied through by h squared.
Q:
Is there any chance you could upload earlier past papers also for
practice material?
A: I think 5 is enough (6 if you include problems class material).
Q:
Thanks Richard for a great TB1, was a bit nervous about this module
before starting but have thoroughly enjoyed it. Have a great Xmas!
A: Thanks for the comment, have a merry Xmas.
Q:
Since the exams this year are 1 double sided sheet of A4, are there
any expected changes to how the exam will be compared to previous
years? I.e less. proofs
A: I don't think there are many proofs in the 5 exams you can see.
The exam will be in line with previous exams.
Q:
where can we find the rest of the summary for the second half of the
course? (the part that you didn't go through in the lecture
A: It's in the problems class section up the page in the Review
document.
Q:
Is it possible to get the final solution of part b on the third order
ode which we covered in the last lecture please
(from 2016 exam)
A: Here it is in Latex syntax:
y_{i+3} + y_{i+2} [-2-1-2h] + y_{i+1} [ 1 + 2 + 4 h + 3 h^2]
+ y_i [-1 - 2h - 3h^2 -h^3] = 0
Q:
Can we do the course recap on one second part of the course as we did
for the first part at some point?
A: I've said in emails I think (but certainly in lectures)...
this is happening Monday 11th at 5pm
Q: Hi can the solutions for sheets 9 and 10 be uploaded please
A: Ooops, yup
Q:
How do I find the solutions for the more recent past papers? I don't
know if I'm doing the questions correct and I can't seem to find any
solutions to check it with?
A: I'll put some past papers and solutions on the webpages asap. Wanted
to get to the end of the course first.
Q: Hi, will we go through section 3.5?
A: I mumbled something about this in Monday's lecture... I did not see the point. I've now removed it from the new version of the notes (where I've also deleted other content we haven't covered.
Q: From the final homework (sheet 10), although there are no set
questions which ones do you think are the most beneficial to have a go
at?
A: There's only 3 questions (I added Q1 and Q3 a few days ago). Q1 and Q2 are similar, but I'd probably choose Q2. I might go through Q3 in Thursday's lecture.
Q: Hi, When will the assessed hw be released
A: On the regular day I set the HW... Thursday noon. It's just a HW that counts for assessment, not extra to HWs.
Q:
Do you happen to know when we might receive feedback from the first
assessed homework?
A:
The marker for the course isn't me.
Most are now marked (I see 15 remain).
I think we aim to do it within a week.
Q:
Hi, i think one class making a checklist and one going over past exam
questions would be most useful. Thanks
A: We seem to be converging
Q: Hi, For next week's problem class, I would like to get some summary of
lectures and doing some exercises from past paper. Sorting out the key
points and having a revision list, I think will be useful when
revising for exams. (To be honest, it's been such a tight schedule
that I haven't had time to review to give a system to all this course
content.)
For the second problem class, could we do some problems of past paper?
I think it will be really helpful to give us a clear method to answer
the problem in the future exam. Thanks!
A: Nice one, thanks.
Q:
Hi I would like to focus more on solving the sketched questions and
going through past paper questions for the problems classes
A: OK, thanks.
Q:
Hi, for next weeks lectures, I would find it helpful if we did a
revision checklist is one of them.
A: Thanks.
Q:
Hi, you asked about what we should do in next weeks lectures. Could we
maybe to a review like you suggested in the first one and then maybe
look at a past paper question in the second one. I think this would be
really helpful
A: Thanks, noted.
Q:
Hi, I'm not sure if this is just me but the week 4 solutions won't
open for me as it says I don't have permission to access.
A: I just had to check with admin that I could make solutions
available or if there was a late deadline in place. All good now
Comment: Hi, I find it very hard to follow your lectures as they seem to jump
around and i do not know what you relate each bit we do to. Would it
be possible for you to add more titles or make it more clear when you
start an example or proof.
A: Thanks for the feedback and I'm sorry you are having trouble with the lectures. I'll see what I can do: I agree that the subtitling of sections is not optimal and I had set out to improve this in a revised version of the course. I ditched this revision when the University decided not to pay us during the UCU industrial action even though we were at work. In the meantime I will try and highlight how sections start and end. I think the notes are better than the lectures, as I'm more constrained as to what I cover in lectures.
