Math 401 Differential Geometry (Fall 2010)

Math 401 Differential Geometry (Fall 2010)

Instructor

Dr. Danielle O'Donnol
Herman Brown 452
email: odonnol AT rice DOT edu

Course Information

Class meets: MWF from 3pm-3:50pm in HBH 453
Office Hours: TBA or by Appointment
Help Sessions: TBA
Webpage:   http://www.math.rice.edu/~dso1/401f10/
All homework and reading assignments can be found on Owl-space

Required Textbook

M. P. do Carmo, Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces, Prentice Hall, 1976

Course Description

Study of the differential geometry of curves and surfaces in Euclidean 3-space. Includes an introduction to the concept of curvature, the first and second fundamental forms, and the Gauss-Bonnet theorem.

Grades

Your grade in the class will be based on the following weights:

Homework: 40% (with the lowest homework grade dropped)
Midterm: 25%
Final Exam: 35%

Homework

Homework will be assigned weekly, on fridays, and due the following friday. Homework should be written clearly, in full sentences. To get full credit you must show, explain, and justify your work. No late homework will be excepted. The lowest homework grade will be dropped.

Exams

There will be one midterm. All exams are pledged.
***Midterm tentatively scheduled for: October 22nd***

The Final

It is the policy of the mathematics department that no final may be given early to accommodate student travel plans. We will not know when the final in this course will be scheduled for some time. Therefore, if you should make plans to travel before the end of final exam period, and it turns out that the final for this course is after your scheduled departure date, you will have to choose between keeping your plans and receiving zero for the final, or incurring the costs for changing your plans and taking the final at its scheduled time. Thanks for your understanding.

OWL-Space

I have set up an OWL-Space site for this course. I will post all announcements, schedules, homeworks, and reading assignments on OWL-Space so check there often. You will also be able to see your current homework/exam grades on Owl-space. You should use your NETID as your login.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend every class. It is the student's responsibility to keep informed of any announcements, syllabus adjustments, or policy changes made during scheduled classes. I will maintain an Owl-space site for this course and will do my best to post such announcements in a timely manner on the site. However, you are still responsible for all class announcements, not just those that get posted to the web site.

Disability Support

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with me during the first week of class. All discussions will remain confidential. Students with disabilities need to also contact
Disability Support Services in the Allen Center.