MA 214 - Numerical Analysis, Spring 2016-17

Instructor Name Prof. S Sivaji Ganesh, Prof. S. Baskar

Course Type Core for EP students

Course overview

Error Analysis: Floating-point representation, propagation of errors, stability of computation

Numerical Linear Algebra: Solving linear system, matrix factorization, locating eigenvalue of matrix, algebraic and iterative methods

Nonlinear Equations: Closed and open domain iterative schemes to approximate solution of nonlinear equation were discussed. This included bisection, secant, Newton-Raphson, and fixed point methods, along with a discussion of the order of accuracy of some of these methods.

Interpolation - Finding an interpolating polynomial given a set of data points and errors, and analysis of the accuracy of the various interpolation methods. Newton and Lagrange form of interpolation were covered.

Numerical calculus: Various methods for numerically approximating integrals and derivatives were discussed, along with the errors for the same

Numerical ordinary differential equations: Euler method and Runge-Kutta method to approximate solution of ordinary differential equations

Prerequisites

There are no formal prerequisites. Informal prerequisites are MA 105, MA 106, and MA 108.

Credit distribution

2 quizzes, each with 15% weightage, one mid-sem (30%) and one end-sem (40%)

Feedback on Lectures

Both instructors use slides to teach. Strict 80% attendance policy was followed. Pace of the lectures was on the slower side.

Feedback on tutorials, assignments and exams

Tutorials are of moderate difficulty level and complement the course well. Besides the weekly tutorial sheets, separate exercises for each chapter were provided in the lecture notes. Exams were mostly calculation based (calculators are allowed).

Relevant References

The lecture notes are more than enough for this course.

Pro-tips

Lecture notes are your Bible for this course. Every single word uttered by the prof will be from the lecture notes (for the most part), which are very clear and easy-to-follow. Tutorials similarly are essential to this course. Make sure you go and note down all the solutions - invaluable before and during the exams - you'll be tested on similar ideas. It is a good idea to go through the exercises as well, since they cover all possible variants of questions that are asked in the exams. Staying in touch with the class and the tuts is more than enough to do well in this course.

Make it a point to attend lectures and tutorials. Around 150 students were handed out DX grades for not meeting the 80% attendance requirement.

Respondents Hrishikesh Iyer, Rahul Dandwate

Note: This is a review to help you make a more informed choice about how to study for this course and/or choosing this course. While we've tried to keep it objective and complete, one must keep in mind that students have varying interests, methods of study, and the course itself changes from year to year.