Differential Equations

Fall 2020

Professor: Mark McClure

Handy Links

• Syllabus
• ODE Talk (our class forum)
• MyOpenMath (our online HW system)
• Colab (our computational tool)
• The Math Lab

Handouts

• In class problems for Wednesday, September 16

Demos

• The geometry of first order ODEs
• The forced, damped harmonic oscillator
• First order, autonomous systems
• Linear systems via the trace and determiant
• The Lorenz Attractor:
  • Lorenz's Experiment
  • Colab
  • HTML
• Gravitation
  • Motion through a central field
  • Colab for one or two bodies
  • n-bodies

Class Notes

• Monday, August 10 - Introduction:
  • Presentation
  • Homework
    There is a 6 point, online My Open Math homework assignment over this material due this Thursday, August 13. Note that all such assignments will be due at 11:59 PM.

    There's also a very easy, 5 point forum assignment due sometime.
• Wednesday, August 12 - First order ODEs:
  • Presentation
  • Homework
    There is a 10 point, online My Open Math homework assignment over this material due next Monday, August 17.

    There is also a forum question asking you to sketch the slope field obtained by entering your forum username here:
• Monday, August 17 - Numerical methods:
  • Homework
    There is a 5 point, online My Open Math homework assignment over this material due this Wednesday, August 19.

    There's also a not so easy, 10 point forum assignment due this Thursday, August 20.
  • ODEINT Notebook
    • HTML
    • Colab
• Wednesday, August 19 - Computer work:
  • HTML
  • Colab
• Monday, August 24 - First order linear equations:
  • Comments
    Today, we'll talk about section 1.4 from our textbook on first order, linear equations. This is mostly symbolic manipulation so we're going to see how board work goes via Zoom!
  • Homework
    There is a 10 point MyOpenMath HW due on Wednesday evening.
• Wednesday, August 26 - Phase lines and bifurcations
  • Presentation
  • Homework
    Working on it
• Quiz 1
  We have a quiz during the last part of this week. You'll take this via MyOpenMath (I think) but it will not be anything like the HWs to this point. You'll get the problems (sometime after class on Wednesday), you will write out your solutions and then upload an image of your write up. Note that the quiz will close 1 hour after you start.

  To study for the quiz, you should do the three problems on our forum whose titles are not so cryptically prefixed "Quiz prep".
• Monday, November 2 - SIR Models
  • O
  • P
• Wednesday, November 11 - Gravitation Lab
• Monday, November 16 - SEIR Lab