Math 464/564 - Theory of Probability - Prof. Kennedy - Spring '07

Course home page: www.math.arizona.edu/~tgk/464_07/index.html

Instructor: Tom Kennedy (Professor, Mathematics)
email: tgk@math.arizona.edu (Please include 464 or 564 in the subject line)
Phone: 621-6696
Office: Math 607

Office hours: will be announced in class and posted on the web.

Textbook: The "official" text for the course is Probability - An Introduction by Geoffrey Grimmett and Dominic Welsh. It is concise, well written and resonably priced, but a bit short on examples. The book Introduction to Probability by Charles Grinstead and Laurie Snell is at the other extreme - less mathematical, more examples, more discussion. It can be downloaded for free.

TEXTBOOK WARNING:

The bookstore initially ordered the wrong book. They now have the correct one in stock. If you bought a book the near the start of classes be sure you got the right one. It should have a white and green cover.

Other probability books

Material covered: Chapters 1-8 of Grimmett and Welsh.

Place and time: MWF 2-2:50, PSYCH 305

Prerequisites: The official prerequisite, Math 322 or 323, is meant to insure that you have the "mathematical maturity" needed for the course. If you have not had one of these course you must talk with me.

Homework: Homework is the most important part of the course. The only way to learn mathematics is by doing it. Homework assignments will be posted on the web as a pdf file. You should feel free to work together on the homework. I encourage this, provided you are truly working on it together. Just watching someone else do it and then copying the answers will almost surely lead to a disaster when you take the exams. Homework will not be graded in the traditional way. Instead, ...

Exams: There will be two in-class exams and a comprehensive final. The final is Friday May 4, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm, in the same room as the classes.

Grading: 464 and 564 will be graded on separate curves. The weighting for course grades will be Missed Exams: If you miss one of the two in-class exams for a legitimate reason, your grade will be computed by weighting the homework 25 %, the other in-class exam 25 % and the final 50 %. A make-up exam will not be given for one missed exam. In the highly improbable event that you miss both in class exams for legitimate reasons, I will give a make up for the second exam at my convenience. For a missed exam I may ask for documentation of the legitimate reason, e.g., a note from student health if you are sick.

Dropping the course: Feb. 6 is the last day to drop without a grade. March 6 is the last day to withdraw with a grade of W. After March 6 you need the Dean's signature and this requires extraordinary circumstances.

Incompletes: The University General Catalog says that incompletes may be awarded only at the end of the semester, when all but a minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed. It should not be awarded if the student must repeat the course. The Mathematics Department vigorously enforces this policy. In this course, the only scenario I can envision that would lead to a grade of incomplete is that you cannot take the final exam due to illness.

464 vs. 564: The homework and exams for 564 will be somewhat different. There will be separate curves for the grades for 464 and 564.

Attendance: You are responsible for all announcements made in class including announcements of exam dates, homework due dates, as well as all material covered in class.