Instructor: Lubos Thoma
Office: Tyler Hall 214 / Lippitt Hall 102H
Tel: 874.4451
Email: thoma at math.uri.edu

Class Schedule: TuTh 2.00pm--3.15pm
Office hours: TuTh 12.30pm - 2.00pm, and by appointment

Information Flyer     If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via my email above.

Textbook:   Loren Larson, Problem-Solving Through Problems, Springer Verlag, 3rd printing, 1992, ISBN: 978-0-387-96171-2.

Description:   This is a mathematics seminar with an eye on the Putnam competition. We will focus on problem-based learning. The main goals of the seminar are
to revisit some of the important concepts encountered in your undergraduate curriculum; thus, showing connections and providing synthesis of mathematical tools across disciplines and providing a deeper insight into them,
to help you master these concepts and ideas through problem-based learning,
to nurture a friendly research atmosphere among the students.

Topics to include: mathematical induction, recurrence relations, pidgeonhole principle and ramsey theory elementary number theory, inequalities, the extremal principle, limits, series, sums, real functions, polynomials and their roots, linear algebra, determinants, eigenvalues, euclidean geometry, graph theory and games. Particular topics will be choosen in accord with the interest of the audience.
Last but not least, the seminar will help the interested students to get information about the nationwide William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition. You can find more info at http://www.unl.edu/amc/a-activities/a7-problems/putnamindex.shtml.

Prerequisite:   MTH 215 and MTH 243, or equivalent.

Grading   Your grade will be based on weekly homework, the midterm and final exams.

Students with disabilities:     Any student with a documented disability is welcome to contact me as early in the semester as possible so that we may arrange reasonable accommodations. As part of this process, please be in touch with Disability Services for Students Office at 330 Memorial Union, 401-874-2098.