Background and Goals: An introduction to matrices and linear algebra. This course covers the basics needed to understand a wide variety of applications that use the ideas of linear algebra, from linear programming to mathematical economics. The emphasis is on concepts and problem solving. The course is designed as an alternative to MATH 216 for students who need more linear algebra and less differential equations background than provided in MATH 216.
Content: An introduction to the main concepts of linear algebra… matrix operations, echelon form, solution of systems of linear equations, Euclidean vector spaces, linear combinations, independence and spans of sets of vectors in Euclidean space, eigenvectors and eigenvalues, similarity theory. There are applications to discrete Markov processes, linear programming, and solutions of linear differential equations with constant coefficients.
Alternatives: MATH 419 (Linear Spaces and Matrix Theory) has a somewhat more theoretical emphasis. MATH 217 is a more theoretical course which covers much of the material of MATH 214 at a deeper level. MATH 513 (Intro. to Linear Algebra) is a Honors version of this course. Mathematics major are required to take MATH 217 or MATH 513.
Subsequent Courses: MATH 420 (Matrix Algebra II), Linear Programming (MATH 561), Mathematical Modeling (MATH 462), MATH 571 (Numer. Methods For Sci).