18.950

18.950: Differential Geometry (Fall 2009)

Instructor: Mark Behrens
Office: 2-273
Lectures: TR 2:30-4, in 2-142
Office hours: TR 4-5
Required text: Wolfgang Kuhnel, Differential Geometry: Curves - Surfaces - Manifolds
Calendar

Grading: There are weekly problem sets, a midterm, and a final. Homework: 30%, midterm: 30%, final: 40%.

Homework: Assignments are posted weekly on Tuesdays to the calendar. They are due weekly on the following Tuesday at classtime. I encourage you to collaborate on homework in small groups, but list who you worked with on your homework. Late homework is not accepted, unless there is a legitimate excuse (e.g. flu, etc...). I will drop your lowest homework score - i.e. the homework for which you lost the most points.

pset1 due 9/22/09
pset2: Ch2: problems 1, 4, 10, 18, 20 (5 points each) due 9/29/09
pset3 due 10/6/09
pset4 due Thurs, 10/15/09
pset5: Ch3: problems 4 and 17 (5 points each)(for problem 17: "regular" means "immersion"), Due Tues, 10/20/09.
pset6 due Tues, 11/3/09
pset7 due Tues, 11/10/09
pset8: Ch4: problems 11(6 points), 12, 13, 14, 15 (5 points each) - due date extended: Tues, 11/24/09.
solutions to pset 8. Plus, a note on geodesics in warped product metrics by Kevin Whyte.
pset9 due THURSDAY, 12/3/09 (last pset)

Midterm: Take-home midterm: no collaboration on this one! Passed out on Oct 22, due Oct 27. Download it here.

Final exam: Mon, Dec 14, 9am-noon, 2-143. Traditional exam style (not a take-home), open book. Covers up to and including the Gauss-Bonnet theorem (i.e. everything except general Riemannian manifolds)