.. _info:

=============================================================
Course information
=============================================================


Instructor
---------------

* `Prof. Randall LeVeque <http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl>`_

  * Office: Lewis 328 
  * netid for email: rjl (but please ask questions on the discussion board)
  * Office hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11-12


Class meeting times
-------------------

* MWF 2:30 - 3:20 pm in Loew 219 (changed April 1)


Discussion board
----------------

Registered students should be able to access the `Piazza discussion board 
<http://piazza.com/washington/spring2015/amath586/home>`_.

Canvas page
-----------

Registered students can view grades and other materials 
on the `Canvas page <https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/962872>`_

Grading
-------

* Homework: 60%, midterm: 20%, take-home final exam: 20%
* See :ref:`homeworks` for more information and due dates.

.. _syllabus:

Recommended Background
----------------------

**Prerequisite:** Either AMath 585, AMath 581, or permission of instructor.
Some past experience in numerical methods for differential equations
will be assumed, along with basic understanding of ordinary and
partial differential equations.

Programming experience is also expected, e.g. in Matlab.
Python will be used for many demonstrations and students are encouraged
to use it.


Textbook
--------

- R. J. LeVeque 
  Finite Difference Methods for Ordinary and Partial Differential
  Equations, Steady State and Time Dependent Problems, SIAM, 2007.

- `The book webpage <http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/fdmbook/>`_ 
  contains links to a tar file of matlab scripts and latex files.

Note: You can get a 30% discount if you buy the book direct from
SIAM and you are a member.  `Student membership
<http://www.siam.org/students/memberships.php>`_  is free for 
UW students!

This text is also available online as an `ebook
<http://epubs.siam.org/doi/book/10.1137/1.9780898717839>`_.
You should be able to access this link from a UW computer.  
Or if you are off-campus, you can gain
access by using the `UW library off-campus proxy
<http://www.lib.washington.edu/help/connect.html>`_.

Other resources
----------------

See :ref:`biblio`