Complex Numbers, Eigen values and Vectors.
A familiarity with the existence and rules for complex numbers will help with this course.
Complex Numbers Part 1
Study Guide and Practice Problem Solving
Complex Numbers Part 2
Study Guide and Practice Problem Solving
Product and Vectors
Study Guide and Practice Problem Solving
Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
Study Guide and Practice Problem Solving
Mathematica Introduction
This class will rely heavily on the use of Wolfram Mathematica. You should install and download this before coming to class. UCI has a site license that allows for you to download it for free. See this link for instructions.
A familiarity with the basic functions of Mathematica will be helpful. Wolfram has put together a tutorial to help introduce you to many useful concepts. See this link for the tutorial. You very likely haven’t seen some of this mathematics and that’s completely okay. For now, just notice the code and let yourself become familiar with some of the program’s power. It is suggested that you practice the actual exercises up through Exponentials and Logarithms.
Study Guide and Practice Problem Solving
Programming introduction
These machines have no common sense; they have not yet learned to “think,” and they do exactly as they are told, no more and no less. This fact is the hardest concept to grasp when one first tries to use a computer.
–Donald Knuth (1968)
This quote exemplifies another concept that will allow you to be successful in the course. This is a concept that takes practice to learn, but one of the most fun ways to learn it is via games. There are many coding games, (most of which are actually designed for kids but are great for adults as well) which teach this concept.
Two easy-to-pick-up games, which requires no programming experience, but will help you learn about the need for very clear instructions, are “LightBot” and “Codemancer“. These focus only on logic rather than any specific language and are great for learning the fundamentals of thinking like a computer which you will need to ensure you can tell the computer what to do appropriately.
If you think you may be interested in learning to code in other languages (an incredibly valuable skill for anyone especially those in the sciences), it may be worth selecting a game which also teaches you a language at the same time. Unfortunately there aren’t any games for learning Wolfram Mathematica’s language. Here’s one of many listicals to get you started.