Online courses directory (118)

The laws of nature are expressed as differential equations. Scientists and engineers must know how to model the world in terms of differential equations, and how to solve those equations and interpret the solutions. This course focuses on the equations and techniques most useful in science and engineering.

Course Format

This course has been designed for independent study. It provides everything you will need to understand the concepts covered in the course. The materials include:

• Lecture Videos by Professor Arthur Mattuck.
• Course Notes on every topic.
• Practice Problems with Solutions.
• Problem Solving Videos taught by experienced MIT Recitation Instructors.
• Problem Sets to do on your own with Solutions to check your answers against when you're done.
• A selection of Interactive Java® Demonstrations called Mathlets to illustrate key concepts.
• A full set of Exams with Solutions, including practice exams to help you prepare.

Content Development

Game Theory, also known as Multiperson Decision Theory, is the analysis of situations in which the payoff of a decision maker depends not only on his own actions but also on those of others. Game Theory has applications in several fields, such as economics, politics, law, biology, and computer science. In this course, I will introduce the basic tools of game theoretic analysis. In the process, I will outline some of the many applications of Game Theory, primarily in economics.

This course continues from Analysis I (18.100B), in the direction of manifolds and global analysis. The first half of the course covers multivariable calculus. The rest of the course covers the theory of differential forms in n-dimensional vector spaces and manifolds.

This is the first semester of a one year graduate course in number theory covering standard topics in algebraic and analytic number theory. At various points in the course, we will make reference to material from other branches of mathematics, including topology, complex analysis, representation theory, and algebraic geometry.

This is an advanced interdisciplinary introduction to applied parallel computing on modern supercomputers. It has a hands-on emphasis on understanding the realities and myths of what is possible on the world's fastest machines. We will make prominent use of the Julia Language, a free, open-source, high-performance dynamic programming language for technical computing.

This is a variation on 18.02 Multivariable Calculus. It covers the same topics as in 18.02, but with more focus on mathematical concepts.

Acknowledgement

Prof. McKernan would like to acknowledge the contributions of Lars Hesselholt to the development of this course.

This course emphasizes concepts and techniques for solving integral equations from an applied mathematics perspective. Material is selected from the following topics: Volterra and Fredholm equations, Fredholm theory, the Hilbert-Schmidt theorem; Wiener-Hopf Method; Wiener-Hopf Method and partial differential equations; the Hilbert Problem and singular integral equations of Cauchy type; inverse scattering transform; and group theory. Examples are taken from fluid and solid mechanics, acoustics, quantum mechanics, and other applications.

Analysis I (18.100) in its various versions covers fundamentals of mathematical analysis: continuity, differentiability, some form of the Riemann integral, sequences and series of numbers and functions, uniform convergence with applications to interchange of limit operations, some point-set topology, including some work in Euclidean n-space.

MIT students may choose to take one of three versions of 18.100: Option A (18.100A) chooses less abstract definitions and proofs, and gives applications where possible. Option B (18.100B) is more demanding and for students with more mathematical maturity; it places more emphasis from the beginning on point-set topology and n-space, whereas Option A is concerned primarily with analysis on the real line, saving for the last weeks work in 2-space (the plane) and its point-set topology. Option C (18.100C) is a 15-unit variant of Option B, with further instruction and practice in written and oral communication.

This course covers the fundamentals of mathematical analysis: convergence of sequences and series, continuity, differentiability, Riemann integral, sequences and series of functions, uniformity, and the interchange of limit operations. It shows the utility of abstract concepts and teaches an understanding and construction of proofs. MIT students may choose to take one of three versions of Real Analysis; this version offers three additional units of credit for instruction and practice in written and oral presentation.

The three options for 18.100:

• Option A (18.100A) chooses less abstract definitions and proofs, and gives applications where possible.
• Option B (18.100B) is more demanding and for students with more mathematical maturity; it places more emphasis from the beginning on point-set topology and n-space, whereas Option A is concerned primarily with analysis on the real line, saving for the last weeks work in 2-space (the plane) and its point-set topology.
• Option C (18.100C) is a 15-unit variant of Option B, with further instruction and practice in written and oral communication. This fulfills the MIT CI requirement.

This is an undergraduate course on differential calculus in one and several dimensions. It is intended as a one and a half term course in calculus for students who have studied calculus in high school. The format allows it to be entirely self contained, so that it is possible to follow it without any background in calculus.

18.014, Calculus with Theory, covers the same material as 18.01 (Single Variable Calculus), but at a deeper and more rigorous level. It emphasizes careful reasoning and understanding of proofs. The course assumes knowledge of elementary calculus.

This course analyzes combinatorial problems and methods for their solution. Topics include: enumeration, generating functions, recurrence relations, construction of bijections, introduction to graph theory, network algorithms, and extremal combinatorics.

Combinatorial Optimization provides a thorough treatment of linear programming and combinatorial optimization. Topics include network flow, matching theory, matroid optimization, and approximation algorithms for NP-hard problems.

This course provides a review of linear algebra, including applications to networks, structures, and estimation, Lagrange multipliers. Also covered are: differential equations of equilibrium; Laplace's equation and potential flow; boundary-value problems; minimum principles and calculus of variations; Fourier series; discrete Fourier transform; convolution; and applications.

Note: This course was previously called "Mathematical Methods for Engineers I."

This is the first semester of a two-semester sequence on Differential Analysis. Topics include fundamental solutions for elliptic; hyperbolic and parabolic differential operators; method of characteristics; review of Lebesgue integration; distributions; fourier transform; homogeneous distributions; asymptotic methods.

In this course, we study elliptic Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) with variable coefficients building up to the minimal surface equation. Then we study Fourier and harmonic analysis, emphasizing applications of Fourier analysis. We will see some applications in combinatorics / number theory, like the Gauss circle problem, but mostly focus on applications in PDE, like the Calderon-Zygmund inequality for the Laplacian, and the Strichartz inequality for the Schrodinger equation. In the last part of the course, we study solutions to the linear and the non-linear Schrodinger equation. All through the course, we work on the craft of proving estimates.

Differential Equations are the language in which the laws of nature are expressed. Understanding properties of solutions of differential equations is fundamental to much of contemporary science and engineering. Ordinary differential equations (ODE's) deal with functions of one variable, which can often be thought of as time.

This course introduces students to iterative decoding algorithms and the codes to which they are applied, including Turbo Codes, Low-Density Parity-Check Codes, and Serially-Concatenated Codes. The course will begin with an introduction to the fundamental problems of Coding Theory and their mathematical formulations. This will be followed by a study of Belief Propagation--the probabilistic heuristic which underlies iterative decoding algorithms. Belief Propagation will then be applied to the decoding of Turbo, LDPC, and Serially-Concatenated codes. The technical portion of the course will conclude with a study of tools for explaining and predicting the behavior of iterative decoding algorithms, including EXIT charts and Density Evolution.

This course continues the content covered in 18.100 Analysis I. Roughly half of the subject is devoted to the theory of the Lebesgue integral with applications to probability, and the other half to Fourier series and Fourier integrals.

This is an advanced undergraduate course dealing with calculus in one complex variable with geometric emphasis. Since the course Analysis I (18.100B) is a prerequisite, topological notions like compactness, connectedness, and related properties of continuous functions are taken for granted.

This course offers biweekly problem sets with solutions, two term tests and a final exam, all with solutions.