Advanced Linear Algebra for Computing

Spring 2024

Instructor of record:

Dr. Nicolas Reyes (Nicky)

nreyes@math.utexas.edu

Course design and video lectures:

Robert van de Geijn

Maggie Myers

EXTENSION AND MAKE-UP POLICY:

There are no extensions or make up assignments in this class under any circumstances. The two
lowest canvas homework assignment and two lowest edX reading assignment scores are dropped
so you can skip two of those assignments without penalty. But there is no way to make up exam
scores and absolutely no extensions on any assignments ever.

Work you can expect:

The course is online. Materials will be assigned one week at a time. Each week is broken into
sections. Within sections you will find units that include videos, reading assignments, activities,
homework, and MATLAB assignments (which is how you will do your programming.)

IMPORTANT: This is a fast paced, theory based course that will require reading and
writing rigorous mathematical proofs almost every week. Writing good code and
correctly implementing algorithms is not enough to pass this class, you need be
comfortable reading proofs at least at the level of a third or fourth year undergraduate
math major. Additionally, this course will likely be extremely difficult if you haven’t
taken at least one semester of linear algebra already, it is NOT intended as an
introduction to the subject. If you have not already taken linear algebra and a proof
based math class, this is likely not a good choice of class for you.
Office Hours:

The instructor and TAs will hold weekly office hours via zoom. Please find the office hours and
Zoom links on Canvas (Austin, TX time).

Textbook information:

Notes are linked from edX. All of these materials are freely available. The title of the electronic
book is “Advanced Linear Algebra: Foundations to Frontiers (ALAFF)”.

A lot of our effort went into writing notes that are structured to fit with the edX platform. They
are available at the course start but may be adjusted. There are hyperlinks in the unit on edX that
take you to the material in the document.

When can I watch the lectures, read notes, and work on the homework
activities or Matlab?

After the release of the course, you can watch the lectures, read notes, or work on assignments at
any time you choose. Find below a schedule of due dates. Homework is due at 23:59 CST each
Sunday. Please make sure you submit them by this time.

Grading:

Grades will be assigned based on homework, proofs and programming exercises, and three
exams, two of which are open note an untimed.

In addition to the homework on the edX platform, which is graded automatically for completion,
there will be canvas submitted proofs and program assignments. The honor code for all exams
will be enforced.

Exams – 39%,

Midterm 1, timed, closed note, theory based, open 2/15, 12:01AM – 2/18, 11:59PM – 12%

Midterm 2, untimed, open note, programming based, open 3/24, 12:01AM – 3/31, 11:59PM –
12%

Final exam, untimed, open note, programming based, open 3/21, 12:01AM – 5/1, 11:59PM –
15%

EdX Homework Progress, two lowest dropped – 22%

Submitted Proofs/Programs Homework, two lowest dropped – 39%

Exams:

There are three exams: two midterms, and a comprehensive final. The midterms cover all topics
up to that point in the course and the final covers the entire course. Why do we have the exams?
They may provide evidence of what and how much you are learning. But, more importantly, they
are part of the learning and understanding process. We understand that your primary goal is to
learn linear algebra. While studying for the exams, you will have the opportunity to review,
make connections, and learn the hard-to-grasp concepts more deeply. In the end, this should
enhance retention of your knowledge and skills. You will also be evaluated based on your
exams. Please do not post or answer questions related to the exams on the discussion board
without explicit approval.

Homework On edX Platform:

There are 11 weeks for which EdX homework will be submitted. You submit a problem by
clicking the “Check” box for each problem. If you miss the question, you can resubmit as many
times as you wish. You can see solutions to these problems at any time in the process.

In order to help you pace yourself, we have deadlines for completing graded homework. Most of
the exercises will not be graded. We hope you will find them engaging. The score for this graded
homework is a completion score. The percentage of responses for a given week will be
calculated upon the submission deadline for that week.

Submitted Proofs/Programs Homework:

Some proofs and programming assignments will be graded by uploading matlab files and/or pdfs
on canvas. These are the problems in the “additional homework” subsections of the “wrap up”
sections at the end of each chapter – note there are no such problems in chapters 3 or 12 thus no
additional homework those weeks. Solutions to these will not be available before you submit.
We encourage discussions on Piazza after the submission period ends.

Extensions and late work:

There are no extensions in this course and absolutely no late work will be accepted under any
circumstances. However, the two lowest canvas graded homework and two lowest EdX
completion based homework scores will be dropped, so you have the flexibility of skipping a
couple assignments when needed.

Reading your grades on canvas and EdX:

Note that the homework drops described in the previous section will be applied at the end of the
semester, so you won’t see them in canvas until then. The EdX homework drops will not appear
in EdX at any point, so it is possible your EdX grade will look slightly lower than your canvas
grade, but it is the canvas grade that is submitted to the registrar.
Also, all canvas submitted homeworks are equally weighted, though canvas will make it look
like longer homeworks are weighted higher. The calculation of homework grades with the two
drops and equal weightings will also happen at the end of the semester, though you can of course
do that calculation yourself at any point.

Final grade:

90-100 A

89 A-

88 B+

80-87 B

79 B-

78 C+

60-77 C

Below 60 F

Collaboration Guidelines:

We encourage our students to collaborate, as long as the purpose is to learn. With the exception
of exams that need to be solved individually, please use the discussion boards to interact with us
and other participants. While we would like to interact with you on a more personal level, realize
that we are teaching other classes as well. We will monitor the discussion forums and will
answer questions as quickly as possible.

Please help us create a healthy learning environment by following these simple standards: Be
polite. Please treat one another with respect, so that everyone can continue to be involved and
seek friendly support.

Be sensitive. This is a global forum with participants from many different cultures and
backgrounds. Be very careful not to offend one another.

Post appropriate content. Be supportive. However, avoid posting content that violates the Honor
Code or Terms of Service. You may not post inappropriate or copyrighted content, advertise or
promote outside products or organizations, or spam the forums with repeat content.

Be proud of your posts. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want associated with your name.
Anonymous posts aren’t anonymous to staff. We do not expect to observe any issues because we
trust you to keep our forum communities strong and healthy. However, inappropriate posts may
be deleted or made invisible to other students.

Overview of the class:

Linear algebra invariably lies at the core of techniques that are of critical importance to
computational and data scientists. In this course, you learn advanced concepts in linear algebra,
practical algorithms for matrix computations, and how floating-point arithmetic as performed by
computers affects correctness.

Statement on Learning Success:

Your success in this class is important to us. We will all need accommodations because we all
learn differently. If there are aspects of this course that prevent you from learning or exclude
you, please let us know as soon as possible. Together we’ll develop strategies to meet both your
needs and the requirements of the course. We also encourage you to reach out to the student
resources available through UT. Many are listed on this syllabus, but we are happy to connect
you with a person or Center if you would like. The University of Texas at Austin guarantees that
students with disabilities have access to appropriate accommodations. You may request an
accommodation letter from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for
Students with Disabilities.

Schedule (Due Dates):

Jan 21 Norms

Jan 28 The Singular Value Decomposition

Feb 4 The QR Decomposition

Feb 11 Linear Last Squares

Feb 18 Exam 1

Feb 25 LU Factorization

Mar 3 Floating point arithmetic, Numerical Stability

Mar 10 Solving Sparse Linear Systems

Mar 11-16 Spring Break

Mar 24 Descent Methods

Mar 31 Exam 2
Apr 7 Eigenvalues and eigenvectors

Apr 14 Practical Solutions of the Hermitian Eigenvalue Problem

Apr 21 The QR Algorithm for the SVD

Apr 30 (Tuesday) Final

Academic Advisor Support:

If you have additional questions or require support from an academic advisor, please contact the
program coordinator at

msonline@cs.utexas.edu.

Program Grade Requirements:

30 hour program

9 required hours

21 elective hours

Required courses, B- or higher; Elective courses, C or higher

To graduate, all students must have a graduate GPA avg of at least 3.0

Tech Requirements:

Requirements listed below are the program’s base requirements. Your course may have
additional tech requirements on top of this, due to projects or third-party tools used in the course
Laptop or personal computer with the following requirements
- OS: Windows 10 or Mac 10.12/10.13/10.14
- At least 2GB of free hard drive space
- Dual-Core 2.4Gz Processor or better
- 4GB RAM or better
- Internet Connection: Cable modem/DSL or better (500kbps download, 300kbps upload)
- Browser: Latest version of Google Chrome or Firefox (Chrome is preferred)
Smartphone or scanner to take pictures and make PDFs of homework submissions
Smartphone or other device capable of being used for dual-factor authentication
Academic Integrity in This Online Course:

The online course format allows for multiple methods of identity verification, collusion,
collaboration and plagiarism monitoring and detection. A violation of the course policy may
include (but is not limited to) the following:

• Providing your UT EID to any other person

• Collaborating or sharing information with another person regarding the material on any
quiz, assessment or assignment, before, during and/or after any quiz, assessment or
assignment (unless WE encourage you to share on the discussion board to support our
learning and we do.)
• Recording any quiz, assessment or assignment material in any format
• Failing to properly cite language, ideas, data, or arguments that are not originally yours
• The public (such that it can be viewed by more than one person) posting of any form of a
test bank or group of questions from any assignment
• Consulting forbidden materials or sources of information

The University of Texas at Austin Academic Integrity principles call for students to avoid
engaging in any form of academic dishonesty on behalf of yourself or another student. Grade-
related penalties are routinely assessed ("F" in the course is not uncommon), but students can
also be suspended or even permanently expelled from the University for scholastic dishonesty.

If you have any questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty, please refer to the Dean
of Students website or contact the instructor for this course.

You must agree to abide by the Honor Code of the University of Texas. You will not work with
or collaborate with others in any way while completing any of the graded course assignments.

If you have approved accommodations for the course, please contact us to arrange them. Please
do this as soon as possible, so that you can have the benefit of the accommodations throughout
the duration of the course.

Course Etiquette:

We expect that you will treat online discussions as though you are having a civil, respectful
discussion with your fellow classmates in the same classroom. Please refrain from using
profanity or any euphemisms for profanity. Please do not bait other commenters or personally
attack them. Please do not use sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively. And
please do not make the same point over and over again. In short, please just respect the right of
your colleagues to ask questions and discuss their opinions about the subject matter of our course
on the discussion board. Violators of these discussion rules will simply be shut out from all class
communications—email, discussion board, and office hours.
Class Recordings:

Class recordings are reserved only for students in this class for educational purposes and are
protected under FERPA. The recordings should not be shared outside the class in any form.
Violation of this restriction by a student could lead to Student Misconduct proceedings.

Sharing of Course Materials is prohibited:

No materials used in this class, including, but not limited to, lecture hand-outs, videos,
assessments (quizzes, exams, papers, projects, homework assignments), in-class materials,
review sheets, and additional problem sets, may be shared online or with anyone outside of the
class unless you have my explicit, written permission. Unauthorized sharing of materials
promotes cheating. It is a violation of the University’s Student Honor Code and an act of
academic dishonesty. I am well aware of the sites used for sharing materials, and any materials
found online that are associated with you, or any suspected unauthorized sharing of materials,
will be reported to Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in the Office of the Dean of
Students. These reports can result in sanctions, including failure in the course.

Reminder on extension policy:

There are no extensions on any assignments in this course.