Math 321: Vector and Complex Calculus for the Physical Sciences

---

   

Four examples of topics covered in Math 321, from left to right,

• What are latitude, longitude and altitude? Azimuth and elevation? What are spherical coordinates? How on earth was this picture generated?
• Changing your attitude: Orthogonal transformations, Rotations of a rigid body, Euler angles, yaw, pitch and roll
• You know the equation of a sphere, but what's the equation of a skull?! Surfaces, modeling, analysis and graphics
• Complex functions, here the square root of a complex number z^1/2 plotted in Matlab using cplxroot(2)

Math 321 has been redesigned to lift students to the mathematical level needed to truly understand Newtonian mechanics of particles and rigid bodies, Electro-Magnetism, transport phenomena, fluid and solid mechanics, aerodynamics, satellite dynamics, polymer dynamics, computer graphics, etc. The course emphasizes geometric visualization and understanding and does include a certain level of `proofs'. Understanding mathematical concepts requires an ability to observe, analyze and deduce.

Math 321 is required for AMEP

Quick Outline (Detailed Outline)

• Vector, Matrix (and Tensor) Algebra (in 3D Euclidean space)
• Vector Calculus
• Complex Calculus