MA12001 Algebra

This webpage contains the lecture notes for the algebra half of the Mathematics 1B (MA12001) module for University of Dundee.

Introduction

The module MA12001 is split into two halves. This half, which we call “algebra” basically because it isn’t “calculus”, covers several areas. First we’ll see the idea of vectors, which will be familiar to many of you. Then we’ll talk about matrices, which are a way to discuss transformations of vectors. This is a first introduction to a large and important area of mathematics called linear algebra. In the final section of the module we’ll use what we’ve learnt to describe different geometric objects like lines, planes and spheres.

These notes contain all the examinable material within this half of the module, and maybe also some bonus stuff, which will be clearly marked as non-examinable. For details of the organisation of the module this year, please see My Dundee.

I’ll be updating these notes weekly as we go through, and at the end of the semester I’ll make the full set of these notes available as a PDF. If you’d like to read ahead, last year’s full notes are available on MyDundee.

It’s very likely that there are mistakes in these notes. If you find one, please let me know ASAP at mailto:jparker002@dundee.ac.uk, no matter how trivial you think the mistake is.