Math 441/620 - Numerical Analysis

Fall 2026 - Matthias K. Gobbert

Detailed Schedule - Last Updated 03/08/2026

This schedule is designed to give you an overview of the material to be covered and is tentative in nature. This is a living document and may be updated throughout the semester.
The section numbers refer to Kendall E. Atkinson, An Introduction to Numerical Analysis, second edition, Wiley, 1989.
The numbers HW0, HW1, HW2, etc. in the Class column indicate homeworks "HW" due as PDF upload to Blackboard on that day.
The numbers BQ0a, BQ1a, BQ2a, etc. in the Main Topic column indicate online Blackboard quizzes "BQ" due before that class.
The numbers GQ0a, GQ1a, GQ2a, etc. in the Main Topic column indicate in-class group quizzes "GQ" during that class due as PDF upload.
These numbers in the detailed schedule are designed to show the teaching philosophy and learning techniques associated with each class meeting.
See the Assignments area of the Blackboard site for our course for the precise due dates and times.

Class	Date	Main Topic	Section(s)
1, HW0	Tu 08/25	BQ0a, BQ0b, IQ0, GQ0a, Introductions, Overview	Pre-assessment
2	Th 08/27	BQ1a, BQ1b, GQ1a, Gaussian elimination: reduction in appended tableau and in Matlab/Octave	8.1
3, HW1	Tu 09/01	BQ1c, GQ0b, Gaussian elimination: LU factorization in software, effect of accumulated round-off	8.2
4	Th 09/03	BQ2ab, Taylor's theorem in one dimension, GQ2a	1.1
5, HW2	Tu 09/08	BQ2c, Taylor's theorem in higher dimensions, GQ2b	1.1
6	Th 09/10	BQ3a, Interpolation: existence and uniqueness	3.1
7	Tu 09/15	BQ3b, Interpolation: Newton divided differences, error theorem	3.2
8, HW3	Th 09/17	Interpolation: problems with equidistant nodes, Matlab/Octave	3.5
9	Tu 09/22	BQ4a, Numerical differentiation: Taylor's theorem and methods	5.7
10, HW4	Th 09/24	BQ4b, Numerical differentiation: errors and effect of round-off, Matlab/Octave, GQ4a	5.7
11	Tu 09/29	BQ5ab, Numerical integration: composite trapezoidal and Simpson rules	5.1-5.2
12, HW5	Th 10/01	Numerical integration in Matlab/Octave, GQ5a
13	Tu 10/16	BQ5e, Numerical integration: Gauss-Legendre quadrature, GQ5e	5.3
14, HW6a	Th 10/08	BQ5f, Numerical integration: general Gaussian quadrature	5.3
	Th 10/13	Fall Recess
15	Th 10/15	Midterm Exam
16	Tu 10/20	BQ6a, GQ6b, Approximation: concepts and theory, orthogonal polynomials	4.1-4.4
17, HW6b	Th 10/22	BQ6b, Approximation: relation to interpolation	4.5-4.7
18	Tu 10/27	BQ7a, BQ7b, Rootfinding: bisection, Newton, secant methods	2.0-2.3
19, HW7a	Th 10/29	BQ7c, BQ7d, Rootfinding: Newton's method in Matlab/Octave, GQ7d	2.5
20	Tu 11/03	BQ7e, Systems of non-linear equations: Newton's method	2.10-2.11
21, HW7b	Th 11/05	Systems of non-linear equations: Newton's method in practice
22	Tu 11/10	BQ8a, Numerical ODEs: problem, local truncation error, GQ8a	6.1
23	Th 11/12	BQ8b, Numerical ODEs: basic methods, linear stability analysis	6.2-6.3
24	Tu 11/17	Numerical ODEs: methods in Matlab/Octave
25, HW8	Th 11/19	Numerical ODEs: method survey	6.7-6.10
26	Tu 11/24	Numerical ODEs: stiffness in ODEs, GQ8b	6.7-6.10
	Th 11/26	Thanksgiving Holiday
27	Tu 12/01	BQ9a, GQ9a, Computer numbers: IEEE-standard for floating-point numbers	1.2
28, HW9	Th 12/03	Computer numbers: IEEE-standard for floating-point numbers	1.2
29, HW10	Tu 12/08	Review	Post-assessment
	Tu 12/15	03:30-05:30 Final Exam Note the date and time!