Module information

Module information#

All dates below are subject to change.

Module staff:

Dr Thomas Ranner (Tom, he/him)

T.Ranner@leeds.ac.uk

Module leader

Dr Yongxing Wang (Yongxing, he/him)

Y.Wang3@leeds.ac.uk

Lecturer

Support for the module is provided through MS Teams. The teams group for this module is: 24/25(1) COMP2421 Numerical Computation (32879)

Course contents#

  • Vectors and matrices: introduction and justification; vector and matrix operations; identity matrix; inverse of a matrix.

  • Approximation and errors: modelling and mathematical modelling; discrete and continuous models; floating point and rounding errors; balancing accuracy and efficiency.

  • Static systems: iterative methods for solving nonlinear scalar equations; methods for solving linear systems of equations; systems without unique solutions.

  • Evolving systems: derivatives and rates of change; initial value problems; stability and convergence of computer models.

Module components#

Lectures#

2 hours per week

Day

Time

Room

Mondays

10:00-11:00

Conference Auditorium 1 (GM.03)

Thursdays

14:00-15:00

Conference Auditorium 1 (GM.03)

Tutorials#

1 hour per week face to face (see timetable)

Opportunity to get feedback on learning

Worksheets#

These will be provided weekly throughout the semester.

Assessment#

Table 1 Assessment schedule 2024#

Title

Release date

Due date

Credit

Portfolio

Mon 30 Sept

weekly, Tuesday 2pm

20%

Coursework

Mon 2 Dec

Wed 18 Dec, 2pm

80%

Formative 1

Mon 7 Oct

Wed 23 Oct, 2pm

0%

Formative 2

Mon 4 Nov

Wed 27 Nov, 2pm

0%

The dates are tentative at this stage and are subject to change.

Portfolio (20%)#

  • A question similar to each worksheet is available in minerva each week.

  • You will have to submit your answer (and show your working) by the Tuesday 2pm deadline.

  • You will receive two marks for giving the correct numerical and one mark for your working.

  • The best 6 of 8 will count for your final mark.

  • No late submission allowed.

Table 2 Portfolio deadlines 2024#

Section

Deadline

1

Tue 15 Oct, 2pm

2

Tue 22 Oct, 2pm

3

Tue 5 Nov, 2pm

4

Tue 12 Nov, 2pm

5

Tue 19 Nov, 2pm

6

Tue 26 Nov, 2pm

7

Tue 3 Dec, 2pm

8

Tue 10 Dec, 2pm

Summative coursework (80%)#

A single piece of summative coursework will count for the majority of the assessment of this module (80%). You will be asked an open ended question which allows you to explore one of the topics from the module in detail. The rubric that you will be marked against is available in minerva. The coursework will be submitted via Gradescope. Usual late submission rules apply.

Formative coursework#

There will be two additional formative courseworks which you can use to build skills related to the summative coursework. Submission and feedback mechanism details to be confirmed.

Syllabus#

This is a rough breakdown of topics to be covered this semester. Please note that this is not entirely fixed and I cannot guarantee to follow this precise structure.

Table 3 Teaching plan#

Lecture

Topic

1 (week 1)

Introduction

2

Vectors and matrices

3 (week 2)

Floating point numbers

4

Introduction to systems of linear equations

5 (week 3)

Solving triangular systems

6

Gaussian elimination

7 (week 4)

LU factorisation

8

The effects of finite precision

reading week

9 (week 6)

Iterative methods

10

Sparse matrices and stopping criteria

11 (week 7)

Derivatives and rates of change

12

Euler’s method

13 (week 8)

Midpoint method

14

Systems of differential equations

15 (week 9)

Introduction to nonlinear equations

16

Newton’s method

17 (week 10)

Quasi-Newton methods

18

Robust linear solvers

19/20 (week 11)

Special topics/Formative coursework feedback

Tutorials plan#

Weekly tutorials should will support you in your learning. See your timetable for when and where you should attend.

Week

Topic

1

Maths preliminary

2

Introduction to python

3

Floating point number systems

4

Triangular systems and Gaussian elimination

reading week

6

LU Factorisation and iterative methods

7

Sparse systems/pivoting

8

Derivatives and Euler’s method

9

Other time stepping

10

Bisection and Newton’s method

11

Other root finding

Contact#

Reference materials#

The programming for this module will be carried out using python3.

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