NLA_2015
Numerical Linear Algebra
Senior Seminar in Scientific Computing


http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~jburkardt/classes/nla_2015/nla_2015.html


NLA_2015 is the home page for the class ISC4932, "Numerical Linear Algebra", Senior Seminar in Scientific Computing, an undergraduate seminar class offered by the Department of Scientific Computing at Florida State University, Fall Session 2015.

This is a 1-credit seminar class, intended to introduce the students to ideas, algorithms, and programs common to Scientific Computing. The topic this semester will be numerical linear algebra.

You might think numerical linear algebra is simply the rules for solving a system of linear equations, "A*x=b", in which case we all know how to call Matlab to magically get an answer. But numerical linear algebra will also tell you what happens when your problem includes equations that contradict each other, or where you have errors in your data, or too many or not enough equations.

Numerical linear algebra will show you how you can end up needing to solve systems of linear equations even though you started out trying to predict the temperature of an iron beam that is being heated by a torch, or if you are trying to estimate the future population of California after someone tells you that, every year, 30 percent of the people in California move out of the state, and 10 percent of the people outside of California move into it.

Numerical linear algebra shows you how to set up and solve systems of linear equations that are so large that it would seem your computer doesn't even have enough space to set the problem up.

Numerical linear algebra allows you to study the process of iteration, in which we follow the changes in a system over time as it is repeatedly affected by some kind of physical process. This could be the aging of a population, the vibration of a metal beam, or the attempts of a prisoner to escape from a maze by taking one step at a time.

The class meets on ?days, from ?to?, in room ?.

A tentative schedule:


Last revised on 14 March 2015.