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The purpose of the mathematics honors program is to provide opportunity and assistance to talented undergraduate students hoping to take Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude) in mathematics. The School of Mathematics offers a number of honors courses. The following gives a thumbnail description of the honors courses offered by the School of Mathematics.
For students desiring further information concerning the math honors program please contact Professor Sperber (sperber@math.umn.edu)
Honors Courses
- MATH 1571/1572 - Honors Calculus I/II
- This is the introductory honors calculus sequence. It begins with a discussion of functions, limits and continuity. The course then proceeds to the main topics of differentiation and integration of functions of a single real variable. One then studies the properties of these key operations including the chain rule, the fundamental theorem of calculus and methods of integration. Applications from the physical and biological sciences are emphasized. Applications include max-min problems, related rates, arc length, volumes and surface area of solids of revolution. Sequences and series are also studied. The course strives to provide an introduction to the mathematical method of proof and to mathematical rigor.
- MATH 2573/2574 - Honors Calculus III/IV
- This course is a two semester course covering multivariable calculus, including differentiation of functions of several variables, multiple integration, discussion of chain rule, inverse function theorem, implicit function theorem, multiple integration, Fubini’s theorem. Applications include max-min problems using Lagrange multipliers, volume and surface area. The course also treats vector calculus, vector fields, div, curl, grad, Green’s theorem, Stokes’ theorem and Gauss’ theorem. The course also covers linear algebra, including the study of eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and the application to diagonalization of suitable linear transformations. The course also provides an introduction to ordinary differential equations, particularly first-order equations, constant-coefficient linear equations, variation of parameters, first-order systems, Laplace transforms. Applications from the physical sciences will be emphasized.
- MATH 3592/3593 - Honors Mathematics I/II
- This course is an honors course designed for students who are interested in pursuing mathematics beyond basic calculus, or are interested in why theorems hold and wish to understand the mathematical reasoning underlying mathematical results, or who enjoy doing mathematics for its own sake. As such the course will help prepare students for advanced undergraduate courses and graduate courses in math. The course emphasizes mathematical proof and rigor. It is a 5 credit course and is more demanding than 2573-4, although both courses have a large overlap in content. While this course covers in depth the topics of multivariable calculus and linear algebra and vector calculus, it does not cover in any detail the introduction to ordinary differential equations. It is recommended that students needing or desiring this subject take an additional course (several excellent courses in ordinary differential equations are offered at the 5000 level). Some topics covered in 3592-3, not covered in 2573-4, include greater attention to n-variable cases (n greater than 3), manifolds, the spectral theorem for real symmetric matrices and applications to classification of real quadratic forms, applications to max-min-saddlepoint classification of critical points, differential forms on manifolds and exterior differentiation, integration on manifolds, generalized Stokes’ theorem.
- MATH 5285/5286 - Honors: Fundamental Structures of Algebra I/II
- This course introduces the study of basic algebraic structures, subobjects, quotient objects, and maps between objects. In particular, groups, rings, mudules, fields are treated. Some topics covered are the Sylow theorems, factorizations in integral domains, principal ideal domains, unique factorization domains, chain conditions in commutative rings, structure theorem for finitely generated modules over a pid, applications to linear algebra (Jordan normal form), finite fields, elementary Galois theory.
- MATH 5615/5616 - Honors: Introduction to Analysis I/II
- This course gives a rigorous treatment of basic analysis. It covers metric spaces, convergence, connectedness, compactness, uniform convergence of sequences and series of functions in one and several variables. Stone-Weierstrass theorem. Rigorous development of differentiation and Riemann-Stieltjes integration. Taylor’s theorem. Implicit function theorem. Stokes’ theorem
Senior Honors Thesis
One of the requirements for students to graduate with Latin honors in mathematics is that they complete an honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty member, write up their work and give a short presentation of their work. Normally the student contacts a faculty member who works in an area of interest and that faculty member, if willing, will suggest a topic of study or in some cases of research which is suitable. The following is a list of recent senior honors theses and the faculty advisers.
| Student | Thesis | Advisor |
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| 2007 |
| Dan Colestock | “Growth Distributions and Enumerations of Subtrees” | B.Fristedt |
| Bradley Froehle | “An Introduction to Combinatorial Garside Structures” | P.Webb |
| Alexander Miller | “Smith Invariants and Dual Graded Graphs” | V.Reiner |
| 2008 |
| David Barta | “An Introduction to Gaussian white noise analysis in sensory system Neurophysiology” | D.Nykamp |
| John Bergdall | “Aspects of the Theory of p-Adic Galois Representations” | W.Messing |
| Derek Dalle | “Invariant Numerical Approximations to EquiAffine Curvature using Moving Frames” | P.Olver |
| Andrew Hampton | “A Finite Expression of FO-Inexpressibility” | W.Richter |
| Robert Hank | “Using Spectral Sequences to Compute Homology” | T.Lawson |
| David Morrissey | “Mathematical Modeling of Point Vortices” | M-C Calderer, D.Spirn |
| Nicholas Switala | “p-Divisibility of the number of F_p rational points on certain hypersurfaces” | S.Sperber |
| Rebecca Weiler | “An Introduction to Minimizing Energy Functions” | M-C Calderer |
| 2009 |
| Dan Brinkman | "Invariant Histograms" | Olver |
| Joseph Loubert | "Bott Periodicity" | Lawson |
| Tom Vacek | "Ehrhart Reciprocity" | Sperber |
The written theses above are kept in a volume in the mathematics undergraduate office in 115 Vincent Hall. You are invited to view them if you are contemplating doing an honors thesis.
Information for students considering graduate study in mathematics
There is information at the following links for students considering graduate study in mathematics:
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