King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Department of Mathematical Sciences

MATH 471

Numerical Analysis I

Semester II, 2003-04(032)

Prelude

To the Student

Math 471 is a rigorous course in Numerical Linear Algebra. The student is assumed to have had introductory courses in linear algebra and numerical analysis such as Math 280 and Math 321 or SE 301. He should be able to do programming in FORTRAN.

A copy of the course syllabus is attached to this prelude. It clearly indicates what is to be covered, the references and the rate of coverage. A copy of the list of Supplementary References (SR) and a copy of the course objectives are also attached.

Each lecture is an integral part of the course. Some lectures contain supplementary material. Thus, good notes of lectures must be taken.

There certainly will be reading and studying assignments and homework and programming assignments. A deadline will be specified for each assignment and it must be normally met by all students. Reading and studying assignments may contain material that is not covered in class; such assignments should be taken very seriously. All assignments that are required for submission must be done strictly in clear, clean and neat form. A certain format will be explained in class.

Students should be ready and able to do some simple programming in FORTRAN by the end of the second week of classes. Proficiency in programming is expected at a later stage.

With respect to grading, the general outline of the course is as follows: There will be a Midterm exam (25%), Prefinal (15%) and Final (10%) exams. Each exam will be based largely on all new material covered in the lectures preceding it. All exams will be both computational and theoretical in nature. Homework and programming assignments will count as 50% of the total grade.

It is likely that Help Sessions will be scheduled. Such sessions are meant to remedy deficient background and to assist in learning new materials.

Homepages and e-mail will certainly facilitate contacts. Details are given below. Effective use of all recourses is certainly encouraged.

I wish you a productive and a rewarding experience and I look forward to having a pleasant semester with all of you.

§ Course Homepage: http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/math/msarhan/math471.html

§ Instructor Homepage: http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/math/msarhan

§ Instructor e-mail: msarhan@kfupm.edu.sa

Dr. Mahmoud Sarhan

Instructor

Math 471(032)