© | Dror Bar-Natan: Classes: 2014-15:

Math 475 - Problem Solving Seminar

Toronto, Academic Year of 2014-2015

$$ $Essentials $$


Course Calendar

# Week of ...  
1 January 5 Handout: $$make_page {name => 'About', title => 'About This Class'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0106', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday January 6', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150106-163010'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-01', title => 'Quiz #1 - Search for a Pattern', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-01.pdf', external => 0}$$. Quiz material: Larson's book, page 8, first 2 problems.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 23 students): 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0108', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday January 8', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150108-172839'}$$.
2 January 12 Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Jan13', title => 'Handout for January 13, "Draw a Figure"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0113', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday January 13', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150113-161950'}$$.
(Quiz 2 will take place next week on Tuesday.)
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Jan15', title => 'Handout for January 15, "Draw a Figure" (2)'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0115', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday January 15', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150115-181440'}$$.
3 January 19 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-02', title => 'Quiz #2 - Draw a Figure', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-02.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 17 students): 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9.5 9 9 5 5 4 2 0
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0120', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday January 20', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150120-170151'}$$.
$$make_page {name => 'ClassPhoto', title => 'Class Photo'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Jan22', title => 'Handout for January 22, "Formulate an Equivalent Problem"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0122', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday January 22', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150122-171513'}$$.
4 January 26 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-03', title => 'Quiz #3 - Formulate an Equivalent Problem', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-03.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 16 students): 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 7 5 5 5 4 4 3 2
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0127', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday January 27', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150127-163620'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Jan29', title => 'Handout for January 29, mostly "Choose an Effective Notation"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0129', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday January 29', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150129-174022'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'Larson-1.5.4', title => 'A Mathematica notebook for Larson\'s Problem 1.5.4', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/Larson-1.5.4.pdf'}$$.
5 February 2 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-04', title => 'Quiz #4 - Choose an Effective Notation', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-04.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 16 students): 10 9.5 9 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 2 1 1
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Feb03', title => 'Handout for February 3, "Choose an Effective Notation"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0203', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday February 3', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150203-162705'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Feb05', title => 'Handout for February 5, "Choose an Effective Notation" and "Exploit Symmetry"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0205', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday February 5', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150205-171728'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'KauffmanBracket', title => 'A Mathematica notebook for the Kauffman bracket', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/KauffmanBracket.pdf'}$$.
6 February 9 $$framed_page {name => 'BB-0210', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday February 10', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150210-161918'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-05', title => 'Quiz #5 - Exploit Symmetry', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-05.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 14 students): 12 9.5 8.5 8 8 7 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Feb12', title => 'Handout for February 12, "Exploit Symmetry" and "Divide into Cases"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0212', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday February 12', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150212-170501'}$$.
R February 16 UofT Reading Week.
7 February 23 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-06', title => 'Quiz #6 - Around the Isoperimetric Inequality', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-06.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 14 students): 9 8 7 7 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0224', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday February 24', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150224-180040'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Feb24', title => 'Handout for February 24, "Divide into Cases" and "Work Backwards"'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Feb26', title => 'Handout for February 26, "Divide into Cases", "Work Backwards", Pigeonhole'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0226', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday February 26', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150226-165649'}$$.
8 March 2 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-07', title => 'Quiz #7 - "Divide into Cases", "Work Backwards", the Pigeonhole Principle', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-07.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 14 students): 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 7 6 5 4 1 1 0
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0303', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday March 3', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150303-173807'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Mar05', title => 'Handout for March 5, "Argue by Contradiction", Pigeonhole'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0305', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday March 5', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150305-182559'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'TugOfWar', title => 'A Mathematica notebook for the Tug of War argument', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/TugOfWar.pdf'}$$.
Sunday March 8 was the last date to drop this course.
9 March 9 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-08', title => 'Quiz #8 - "Argue by Contradiction" and the Pigeonhole Principle', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-08.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 14 students): 10 10 10 9 9 8.5 8.5 7.5 7 6 3.5 2.5 2.5 1
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0310', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday March 10', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150310-171912'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'RamseyR', title => 'A Mathematica notebook for the Ramsey numbers', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/RamseyR.pdf'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Mar12', title => 'Handout for March 12, "Pursue Parity"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'March12Problem10', title => 'A Mathematica notebook for Problem 10', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/March12Problem10.pdf'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0312', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday March 12', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150312-213623'}$$.
10 March 16 $$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-09', title => 'Quiz #9 - "Pursue Parity"', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-09.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 16 students): 10 10 10 10 10 10 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 9 9 9 8.5 8 6.5
$$framed_page {name => 'Chessboards', title => 'A Mathematica notebook for Quiz 9 Problem 1', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/Chessboards.pdf'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0317', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday March 17', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150317-163316'}$$.
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Mar19', title => 'Handout for March 19, "Consider Extreme Cases"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0319', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday March 19', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150319-163345'}$$.
11 March 23 $$framed_page {name => 'Swapping', title => 'Swapping two memory cells without using a third', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/nb/Swapping.pdf'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0324', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday March 24', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150324-163110'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-10', title => 'Quiz #10 - "Generalize"', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-10.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 15 students): 10 10 10 10 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 9 9 8.5 8 7 6 1
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'Mar26', title => 'Handout for March 26, "Generalize"'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'BB-0326', title => 'Blackboards for Thursday March 26', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150326-171644'}$$.
12 March 30 $$framed_page {name => 'BB-0331', title => 'Blackboards for Tuesday March 31', url => 'http://drorbn.net/bbs/show.php?prefix=15-475#150331-190552'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'Quiz-11', title => 'Quiz #11 - "Generalize"', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Quiz-11.pdf', external => 0}$$.
Results (of 10, median underlined, 14 students): 10 10 10 9.5 9 9 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 6 5 2
Handout: $$make_page {name => 'OnFinal', title => 'The Final Exam and preparing for it'}$$.
$$framed_page {name => 'CMU', title => 'My Talks at CMU', url => 'http://www.math.toronto.edu/~drorbn/Talks/CMU-1504/'}$$.
Thursday is last day of classes, Friday is Good Friday.
F April 6 UofT Examination Period begins on Wednesday.
F April 13 UofT Examination Period.
F April 20 Our $$framed_page {name => 'Final', title => 'Final Exam', url => 'http://drorbn.net/AcademicPensieve/Classes/15-475-ProblemSolving/Final.pdf', external => 0}$$ took place on Tuesday April 21 at 9AM-12Noon, at St. Vlad.
Results (of 80, median underlined, 16 students): 80 79 78.5 78.5 77 77 76 75 74 71.5 71 70 69.5 51.5 38.5 32.5
Overall course marks (of 100, median underlined, 16 students): 98 98 97 96 95 94 93 91 89 88 88 79 63 62 58 53
F April 27 UofT Examination Period ends on Thursday.

Further resources:

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