‘18.158: Topics in Differential Equations’

Table of contents

  1. Course Info
  2. Realistic Prerequisites
  3. Subject Matter
  4. Course Staff
  5. Lectures
  6. Problem Sets
  7. Exams
  8. Resources
  9. Grading
  10. Advice to Future Students

Course Info

Class Size 19
Hours/Week 7.6 (13 responses)
Instructors Larry Guth
Overall Rating 7.0/7.0

Realistic Prerequisites

*Knowing complex analysis and fourier analysis is greatly beneficial, but not required.

Subject Matter

  • The course was a more analysis-oriented approach to analytic number theory. The class went over some of the current techniques that researchers use in analytic number theory.

Course Staff

  • Very caring and approachable. Prof. Guth held office hours after every lecture.

Lectures

  • Most students believed that they learned mostly from lectures, which were presented very clearly. They believed that the psets were a tool to help understand the lecture material better.

Problem Sets

  • The problems were similar to proofs from the lecture. They were mainly to help digest the content from the lectures instead of needing new ideas.
  • The problem sets contained optional problems.
  • Collaboration on the more challenging psets was helpful.

Exams

  • There were no exams.

Resources

  • There were no textbooks, but there were scribed lecture notes from each lecture.

Grading

  • Students felt that grading was fair and transparent. Grades only depended on the problem sets.

Advice to Future Students

  1. “Take this if it’s offered again!”
  2. “I would advise students to attend lectures as this was the most efficient way for me to learn the material.”