2009 Spring MATH 229-01
Bulletin Course Description Formulation and analysis of mathematical models in science and engineering. Emphasis on case studies; may include individual or team research projects. Instructor: Staff
(Instructor named in bulletin description above may not be current. For current instructor, see listing below.)
Title MATHEMATICAL MODELING Department MATH Course Number 2009 Spring 229 Section Number 01 Primary Instructor Witelski,Thomas P Prerequisites Course Homepage www.math.duke.edu/~witelski/229/
Synopsis of course content
This course will present an introduction and survey of mathematical models for problems in the applied sciences and engineering. The real-world problems, coming from areas like mechanical systems, control theory, fluid dynamics, bio-chemical reactions, and heat transfer will be formulated as idealized mathematical models. Equations will be derived from first principles in geometry, physics and the calculus of variations. Mathematical techniques, such as nondimensionalization, perturbation analysis, stability theory and simple numerical methods, will then be introduced to simplify the models and yield insight into the underlying problems.
Textbooks
Mathematics applied to Deterministic Problems in the Natural Sciences, C.C. Lin and L. A. Segel, SIAM Press (Required).
Assignments
Weekly problem sets will be assigned.
Exams
There will be a mid-term exam.
Grade to be based on
The course grade will be based on the homework sets, the exam and possibly a final project.
Additional Information
Background in differential equations at the level of (Math 107 and 108) or (Math 104 and 131) (or equivalents), basic physics (mechanics) and multi-variable calculus is assumed.
