Math 203: Applied Mathematics Project
Spring 2006

Contents of this page

Late breaking news
Meeting time
Prerequisite
Office hours
Textbook
Syllabus
Grading policy
Handouts
Academic integrity
Anonymous feedback

Late breaking news

(6/15) The final report "The dripping handrail: an astrophysical accretion model" is finally here. Good work everyone and have an excellent summer!

(3/13) The paper "Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillation peak separation is not constant in Scorpius X-1" by van der Klis et al. has been posted in the handouts section.

(3/6) I wasn't able to find an electronic version of the MATLAB book I mentioned todday, but here is link to a lot of good MATLAB resources.

(3/4) Here's a discussion of the problems we discussed yesterday. They will be our (flexible) guidelines for the rest of the semester. From now on, it is your job to work on them and report your results to me. (Of course, my job is to help you.) None of these problems are easy, so any progress you make will be a great success. Always keep in mind that in research one fails much more often than one succeeds, so be patient and persistent!

(2/26) I posted Michael Vartanian's DHR notes. Please read it by tomorrow to prepare for Jeff Scargle's visit. Also prepare your questions and suggestions.

(2/23) We will not have an "official" meeting tomorrow, February 24. You are free to meet without me and brainstorm to prepare for Monday's meeting with Jeff Scargle.

Also, I decided to appoint Efrem Rensi and Michael Vartanian to be team leaders.

(2/20) I corrected the error in the discussion of maps on tori. The error was in the definition of the matrix A_\Gamma (J in the Scargle-Young paper).

(2/19) I'll be half an hour late to my office hours tomorrow. Sorry about that.

(2/18) Here's a short discussion of maps on tori and the DHR, summarizing what was said in class yesterday.

(2/17) Next visit by Jeff Scargle and Karl Young will be on Monday, February 20.

So far, we've learned what chaos means in mathematics. Last Friday I started talking about a way of looking at the DHR as a dynamical system defined by a linear map and a translation in Euclidean space. Today I'll show you what can be said about the dynamics of some such systems. One direction of research could therefore be to look at various modifications of this system and study its dynamics.

Please prepare your questions and comments about the Scargle-Young papers for the Monday meeting, and think about what you would like to do the rest of the semester.

(2/2) Unfortunately, the Math Department does not have enough copies of MATLAB for all CAMCOS students. However, you can use MATLAB on the CAMCOS computer in SCI 321A; you need to ask Jeffra (in MH 308) about getting access codes. I also have a student version on a CD (which has to be in the computer in order for MATLAB TO run) which you can borrow from me.

Room update: we may not have MH 233 any more, courtesy of the SJSU scheduling office. Let's meet in my office tomorrow at 3 and see which rooms are available.

(1/26) We now have a room: MH 233.

(1/25) Recall that we decided to meet Mondays and Fridays 3-3:50. On Monday, Jeffrey Scargle from NASA-Ames and Karl Young from UCSF will join us to talk about the dripping handrail model, so you should read their paper I gave you.

(1/21) First class meeting is in my office on Wednesday, January 25, at 2:30.

Meeting time

In the first few weeks, Mondays and Fridays 3-4 (in whichever room is available). After that, Mondays 3-4 and depending on need. You can schedule other team meetings separetely.

Prerequisite

Instructor's consent.

Office hours

My regular office hours are MWF 9:50-11:30, and by appointment.

Textbook

There will be no required course textbook. We will cover some sections of
M. W. Hirsch, S. Smale, and R. L. Devaney: Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems, and an Introduction to Chaos, Elsevier/Academic Press, second edition, 2003.
ERRATA

Syllabus

Green sheet

Grading policy

The course is graded on a CR/NC basis. All students applied for permission to take this research course, and so are expected to take a serious interest in the course and perform at an A level in order to receive credit.

Handouts

Van der Klis et al., Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillation peak separation is not constant in Scorpius X-1

LIST OF PROBLEMS

Karl Young and Jeffrey Scargle, The dripping handrail model: transient chaos in accretion systems

Maps on tori and the DHR

Michael Vartanian's DHR notes

Academic integrity statement

From Office of Judicial Affairs: "Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University, and the University's Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty are required to report all infractions to the Office of Judicial Affairs. The policy on academic integrity can be found here."

Anonymous feedback

If you have any comments or suggestions, please fill out this anonymous feedback form.

Slobodan N. Simić

Last modified: Thu Jun 15 15:33:32 PDT 2006