MTH285: Introduction to Applied Mathematics

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Cross Listed:
Offered:
Spring
Prerequisites:
MTH161 MTH162, or the equivalent. Some knowledge of linear algebra. MTH164 would help, but it is not required.
This course is a prerequisite or co-requisite for:
Description:
This course ties together many of the themes from courses on linear algebra, calculus and differential equations and applies them to problems found in engineering, physics and chemistry. The emphasis is on the underlying unity of the different mathematical subjects and the problems in the different sciences. The central topics are differential equations and matrix equations --- the continuous and discrete. They reinforce each other because they go in parallel.
Topics covered:
Minimum principles; eigenvalues and dynamical systems; constraints and lagrange multipliers; applications to ellectircal networks; differential equations of equilibrium; calculus of variations; stability and chaos; nonlinear conservation laws.
Related courses:
There are some 400 level courses in mathematical methods in the physics department, in the optics department and in engineering.