Course: Math 418
Instructor: Prof. Joe Borzellino
Time: MTRF 10:10–11:00am, Mathematics & Science 38-202
Office Hours: M 3:10–5:00pm, TR 3:10-4:00pm (or by appt/email) in FOE 25-302
Phone: 756–5192
E–Mail: jborzell
Web Page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jborzell/index.html
Text: Strauss, Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction, 2^nd ed. (Custom version)
Chapters Covered: 1,2,4,5,6, (7,14)

A note on our textbook: The custom edition of the textbook is the same as the original textbook with some content removed. If you can find a cheap used copy of Strauss' original 2^nd ed. text, that will work as well for this class.

Strauss' book is an excellent and classic text that is used by many top tier universities. The book is written in a somewhat terse style which means that it covers quite a bit of content, but expects the reader (that's you & me) to be able to complete routine computations, to recall elementary calculus/ODE techniques and fill in small gaps that require arguments similar to those that have already been presented. The list of potential topics is quite expansive for an undergraduate book on PDEs, and as such, Strauss' book paints a more complete panorama of the subject of PDEs. The study of PDEs can be approached from a very theoretical or very applied point of view and different books reflect these different approaches. Strauss' book is slightly more theoretical overall, but also discusses applications and real world phenomena when appropriate. Here are some other references for books on PDEs (there are many others):

1. Haberman, Applied Partial Differential Equations (undergraduate, more applied)
2. O'Neil, Beginning Partial Differential Equations (undergraduate, less applied)
3. Logan, Applied Partial Differential Equations (undergraduate, more applied)
4. McOwen, Partial Differential Equations (graduate, much harder, more theoretical)
5. Churchill & Brown, Fourier Series and BVPs (undergraduate, more applied)

Your grade for the course will be determined by a cumulative point total weighted as follows:

Quizzes 33% Midterm 33% Final Exam 34%

Important: YOU MUST TAKE THE FINAL EXAM TO PASS THE CLASS!

The dates for the exams are as follows:

Midterm: Due Friday, October 21 (roughly)
Final Exam: Monday, December 5, 10:10am–1:00pm.

NOTE: All exams and quizzes will be take-home unless stated otherwise . To receive full credit, you must show all of your work. There are NO makeup exams. If an emergency situation arises which will cause you to miss an exam or quiz, you must contact me BEFORE the exam or quiz is given. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Possible penalties include a failing grade for the course.

Homework and Quizzes: About once a week a take-home quiz will be given. The quiz will cover material covered in class recently. A portion of Friday's class will be set aside to go over homework and answer your questions. Homework assignments will be posted on the web page listed above. Homework will be assigned but not collected. Homework that is assigned is meant to prepare you for the problems that will appear on quizzes and exams.

Other Dates to Remember:
November 11 Veteran's Day (Friday)
November 23-25 Thanksgiving (Wednesday - Friday)