0.1. Prereqisites

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Prerequisites

1. Pre-calculus

Advanced calculus is also advanced pre-calculus, and certain points from pre-calculus arise all the time in this course, and in higher mathematics in general. Here are some of them. (This list is not exhaustive).

  1. You should be able to sketch curves such as ellipses and hyperbolas: $$ \frac {(x - x_0)^2}{a^2} + \frac{(y - y_0)^2}{b^2} = r^2 $$ $$ \frac {(x - x_0)^2}{a^2} - \frac{(y-y_0)^2}{b^2} = r^2 $$

  2. You should know by heart the most basic basic trigonometric identities: not only $$ \sin^2 \theta+ \cos^2\theta = 1, $$ but also $$ \cos^2 \theta = \frac 12( 1+\cos 2\theta), \qquad \sin^2 \theta = \frac 12( 1-\cos 2\theta). $$ These are easy to remember if you have a good mental picture of what $\cos^2$ or $\sin^2$ looks like. You should be able to derive more or less immediately other identites that follow directly from the above, such as $ \sec^2\theta - \tan^2\theta = 1 $.

  3. basic properties of exponentials and logarithms.

2. Linear Algebra.

The following topics should be familiar to students from earlier courses such as MAT223.

  1. dot product:

  2. linear dependence and independence.

  3. matrix-matrix and matrix-vector multiplication.

  4. Connection between $m\times n$ matrices and linear mappings $\mathbb R^n \to \mathbb R^m$. How to visualize linear mappings, particularly $\mathbb R^2 \to \mathbb R^2$.

  5. How to solve the equation $A\bf x = b$ by Gaussian elimination (when a solution exists).

  6. Supose that $A$ is a $m\times n$ matrix.

  7. the determinant and related topics. (Note, when speaking about determinants, we always implicitly assume that we are referring to square matrices.)

  8. Advanced properties of the determinant. (These may not all be familiar).

  9. eigenvalues and eigenvectors: what they are, and how to find them.

3. Calculus.

The following topics should be familiar to students from earlier courses such as MAT137.

  1. The use of quantifiers such as $\forall, \exists$.

  2. properties of the real numbers:

  3. Limits and Continuity

  4. Differentiation

  5. Integration and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

  6. Sequences, Series, Convergence Tests

4. Other.

Basics of personal hygiene - shower or bathe regularly, etc - were covered in MAT137, as well as earlier in your educational career.

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