Winter 2008-09 Mathematics Electives

• portions to be updated in red

MA323 Geometric Modeling (4 credits)
Period 4 MTRF - David Finn
Prerequisite: MA 113 or consent of instructor
This course covers some of the mathematical methods for describing physical or virtual objects needed in computer aided geometric design (CAGD) and computer graphics. See instructor's course web pages for more details.

MA355 Problem Solving Seminar VI (1 credit)
Period 6 W - Tanya Jajcay
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor
An exposure to mathematical problems varying widely in both difficulty and content. Students will be expected to participate actively, not only in the solution process itself but also in the presentation of finished work, both orally and in writing. A student may earn a maximum of six credits in MA 351-6.

MA366 Functions of a Real Variable (4 credits)
Periods 3 & 5 MTRF - Steve Carlson and Roger Lautzenheiser
Prerequisite: MA113 and MA275
Calculus of functions of a single variable. A more careful development of the basic concepts of analysis, including sequences, limits, continuity, differentiability, integration, infinite series, power series, Taylor's theorem, and uniform convergence. This course forms a basis for further advanced study in analysis such as the theory of ordinary and partial differential equations and Fourier series. See this page for more information.

MA375 Discrete and Combinatorial Algebra II (4 credits)
Periods 3 & 7 MTRF - Tanya Jajcay and Tom Langley
Prerequisite: MA 275
This continues the course in discrete math (MA275). Topics include advanced enumeration techniques including recurrence relations, generating functions, and the principal of inclusion and exclusion. (required for CS and SE).

MA381 Introduction to Probability with Applications to Statistics (4 credits)
Period 6 MTRF - John Massman
Prerequisite: MA113
Introduction to probability theory; axioms of probability, sample spaces, and probability laws (including conditional probabilities). Univariate random variables (discrete and continuous) and their expectations including these distributions: binomial, Poisson, hypergeometric, geometric, negative binomial, uniform, and exponential.  Introduction to moment generating functions. Introduction to jointly distributed random variables. Univariate transformations of random variables. The distribution of linear combinations of random variables and an introduction to the Central Limit Theorem.

MA385 Quality Methods (4 credits)
Period 4 MTRF - Mike Devasher
Prerequisite: MA 223 or MA 382
Introduction to various aspects of statistical quality control and statistical process control to include the following topics: importance of variance reduction and probability concepts influencing product quality and reliability; development and application of control charts (P-charts, NP-chart, C-charts, U-charts, Individuals Charts, moving range charts, X-bar and R as well as X-bar and S charts); process capability indices (their use and misuse); introduction to acceptance sampling. Other topics to be included as time allows: 6 sigma thinking, gauge reproducibility and repeatability, and total quality management with the philosophies of Deming, Juran, and Crosby. Review of fundamental prerequisite statistics will be included as necessary.

MA433 Numerical Analysis (4 credits)
Period 7 MTRF - Jeff Leader
Prerequisite: MA222
Root-finding, computational matrix algebra, nonlinear optimization, polynomial interpolation, splines, numerical integration, numerical solution of ordinary differential equations. Principles of error analysis and scientific computation. Selection of appropriate algorithms based on the numerical problem and on the software and hardware (such as parallel machines) available.

MA444 Deterministic Models in Operations Research (4 credits)
Period 9 MTRF - Allen Holder
Prerequisite: MA221 or MA371/373
Study of mathematical models and techniques which aid in decision making. Focuses on network problems (spanning tree, maximum flow, critical path and matching problems) and on linear programming, including duality. Email course instructor for more details.

MA450 Math Seminar (1 credit)
Period TBA- Tanya Jajcay
Prerequisite: none
This course is designed to encourage students to attend department mathematics seminars and make a presentation of their own. Students  must attend nine seminars and make presentation of their own on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor. A student will be allowed two consecutive quarters to complete all requirements.

MA470 Topics in Algebra (4 credits)
Period 3 MTRF - Bill Butske
Prerequisite: Instructor permission
An advanced topics course in algebra.  Topic of the course could be commutative algebra, Galois theory, algebraic geometry, Lie groups and algebras, or other advanced topics in algebra.  May be taken more than once provided topics are different. Email course instructor for more details.

MA471 Linear Algebra II
Period 6 MTRF - Roger Lautzenheiser
Prerequisite: MA 371 or 373
A study of the algebraic and geometric structure underlying linear transformations on Rⁿ and Cⁿ. Topics will include the diagonalization theorem for Hermitian matrices, the Jordan canonical form, and the singular value decomposition.
Please note that this course is being offered at a special time this year.

MA474/CSSE474 Theory of Computation (4 credits)
Periods 8 & 9 MTRF - Tom Langley
Prerequisite: CSSE 230 and MA 375
Students study mathematical models by which to answer three questions: What is a computer? What limits exist on what problems computers can solve? What does it mean for a problem to be hard? Topics include models of computation (including Turing machines), undecidability (including the Halting Problem) and computational complexity (including NP-completeness). Same as CSSE 474.
Email course instructor for more details.

MA481  Introduction to Mathematical Statistics (4 credits)
Period 8 MTRF - Dave Rader
Prerequisite: Pre: MA 382, or MA 381 and consent of instructor
See the stats web page for scheduling of statistics courses.

MA487 Design of Experiments (4 credits)
Period 5 MTRF - Mark Inlow
Prerequisites: MA 223 or MA 381 and permission of instructor
See this web page for more details.

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