MA4211 Functional Analysis

Midterm test

The midterm test will be held on Thursday 13 March, during the lecture period.  You may bring any amount of notes, including, but not restricted to, the outline, tutorial sheets and solutions.  However, you may not bring any textbooks, nor any downloaded and printed copies of texts.

Final exam

The final exam will be held on Tuesday 6 May at 5pm.  You may bring any amount of notes, including, but not restricted to, the outline, tutorial sheets and solutions.  However, you may not bring any textbooks, nor any downloaded and printed copies of texts.

Course info & occasional notes

Please download and print a copy of the Course Outline.  Possession of this document is a necessary but not sufficient condition for surviving this course.

Some notes on L^p spaces, including completeness of L^p.

Some notes on the dual of L^p spaces.

Tutorials

The importance of working through problems in any mathematics course cannot be overstated.  Attending lectures is akin to watching someone play a game.  But the best way to learn the game is to play it yourself.  The solutions are much less important than the experience of cracking your head against problems.  As a corollary of this principle, I do not believe in giving out written solutions to tutorial problems.  However, I am more than happy to discuss the tutorials, or indeed any aspect of the course, with anyone, the only caveat being that you should not expect to have answers handed to you on a plate.

Students are expected to take turns presenting solutions during tutorial sessions.  Participation in this respect will determine 10% of the grade.  Active engagement with the exercises rather than perfect solutions is the point here.

Tutorial sheets are organized by sections roughly corresponding to sections in the outline.  Each sheet may not necessarily be covered in a single tutorial period.  Tutorials begin on 30 January.

Reference

• Introductory Functional Analysis by Erwin Kreyszig

It is NOT necessary to purchase a copy of this text because I will be following the course outline closely. 

Grading

The final grade will be determined by Tutorial Participation (10%), a Term Test (30%) and the Final Examination (60%).

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Last Modified: 19 March 2008