Tag Archives: math

Course Review: MATH 418

Probability

“I heard you had a lot of difficulty with the last homework. So you will be relieved to note that next homework you will have another opportunity to practice similar problems.”

Text:  A First Look at Rigorous Probability Theory, 2nd ed by J.S. Rosenthal

Prof: Dr Gordon Slade

Prof Slade is very clear and keeps things simple. He also has no problem slowing down to answer questions from students if they are not following along. He has a dry sense of humor, that keeps the class interesting, and he can even by funny when he is talking in earnest.

Difficulty

After taking measure theory, several sections of the course can feel like review. This was a good thing for me, as I found MATH 420 a tad fast. There are a handful of new techniques that you learn in the homework and class, but there are not that many new concepts if you have some background in measure theory and probability. MATH 421 material also comes up in terms of weak convergence.


Key Concepts

Probability Triples

Random Variables

Distributions

Expectation

Borel-Cantelli

Modes of Convergence

Law of Large Numbers

Central Limit Theorem

Characteristic Functions

Hard Concepts

Tail Events: Kind of funny to think about. Also, include definitions of limit supremum and limit infimum for sequences of event which can be difficult to convert to statements about limits of random variables.

Weak Convergence: There are a lot of equivalent statements, and if you pick the wrong one it can be a mission to prove that convergence occurs.

Conclusion

Good review of measure theory, and gives you a mathematical foundation to elementary probability.

Course Review: MATH 320

Real Variables I

“You don’t really need a metric. All you need is the open sets.”

Text: Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Walter Rudin (3rd Edition)

Prof:  Dr Joshua Zahl

Dr Zahl was a structured, clear professor. He also provided useful insights into the ideas behind various proofs. I don’t think he has taught this course many times before, so he is probably still in the process of fine-tuning his delivery. Also, his surname literally means ‘number’ in German!


Difficulty

While the readings are pretty dense, the homework was quite doable by honours mathematics standards. I found the first midterm surprisingly easy. The second midterm was significantly harder, and I had not fully understood the concept of compact sets, so I did not do well at all. The class also got wrecked so there was a lot of scaling. The final was very reasonable.


Key Concepts

Properties of Real Numbers

Metric Spaces

Open Sets

Sequences

Continuous Functions

The Derivative

 Hard Concepts

Compact Sets: This concept has a deceptively Byzantine definition but is actually really fundamental to the course. Reading the history of the concept from Wikipedia and understanding many examples/counter-examples of sets that are or are not compact gave me a better intuition.

Sequences: Not a hard concept to understand, however an invaluable tool in certain seemingly intractable problems. Many times, it’s helpful to construct a sequence of points or even intervals and then use properties of such sequences in that space to prove the theorem.


Conclusion

Tough though doable class, if you have any background in mathematical proofs. One of the key learnings I took out this class, was the importance of spending time understanding complex definitions.