Maths & Stats / Teaching program / Junior / MATH1906 / Info Sheet

MATH1906: Mathematics Special Studies Program A
Unit Information Sheet for Semester 1, 2009

Classes

The Special Studies Program is formally attached to MATH1901 with one additional seminar and a special tutorial. In particular you attend:

  • The same lectures as MATH1901 (whichever stream you have been placed in);
  • Seminar: Tuesday 4pm, Carslaw Room 453;
  • Tutorial: Thursday 10am, Carslaw Room 454 (replaces your other MATH1901 tutorial).

The special topics in the seminar are independent of MATH1901. There will be three different topics presented by different lecturers.

The tutorial will mainly be on the material in MATH1901 (see the MATH1901 Information Sheet to find out how to obtain tutorial sheets) and occasionally about the material from the seminars.

Special Topics

There will be three topics from various fields of mathematics and statistics presented by different lecturers:

Week 2-5: D Daners, Maps of the World
The globe cannot be mapped onto a plane without distortion. We look at map projections of the world and study their properties like for instance area and angle distortions. We discuss suitability of some maps for navigation and other purposes.
Week 6-9: M Wechselberger A model study of cardiac arrhythmia
Cardiac arrhythmia denote any conditions in which the electrical activity of the heart is irregular. Some arrhythmias are life-threatening that can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death. We will introduce a mathematical model of cardiac electrical activity using a discrete dynamical systems approach to understand what causes and controls their dynamics.
Week 10-13: A Henderson Regular polyhedra
The crowning glory of Ancient Greek geometry was the classification and description of the regular polyhedra, also known as Platonic solids. We will examine these from a modern mathematical viewpoint, and explore their counterparts in more than three dimensions.

Assessment

The final mark in MATH1906 is determined as follows:

  • All the assessment for MATH1901. For more details look at the MATH1901 unit information sheet.
  • Three assignments for the special topics in the seminar. If you perform well, the marks will be used to “top up” your MATH1901 mark.

To get a mark in MATH1906 you must hand in all assignments. If you attend less than 80% of seminars and tutorials you may be given a mark for MATH1901, not MATH1906! Under exceptional circumstances you may be allowed to attend a MATH1901 tutorial. Contact the coordinator D Daners for permission to do so.

Problem sheets and the like

  • You will need the sheets for MATH1901. Check the MATH1901 Web page or the MATH1901 Unit Information Sheet on how to get these.
  • Additional handouts for the special topics in the seminar may be given out in the seminar at Tuesday 4pm or the tutorial at Thursday 10am. Any solutions will also be handed out in these classes.