Fall 2026
Honors Linear Algebra
AS.110.212 (01)
Name: Professor Mee Seong Im
Room: Hodson 315
Dates: Monday Aug 31, 2026 - Friday Dec 11, 2026
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:30 - 2:45 pm
Office Hours: Mondays, 3 - 4 pm, Wednesdays 3 - 4 pm in Krieger 419
Teaching Assistant:
Anna Matsui
Room: Hodson 315
Recitation: Fridays 1:30 - 2:20 pm
Office Hours:
Course Textbooks.
Linear Algebra (5th Edition), by Stephen H. Friedberg, Arnold J. Insel, Lawrence E. Spence
Linear Algebra Done Right (3rd Edition), by Sheldon Axler (supplementary textbook)
On Mondays and Wednesdays, you will have lectures in Hodson 315.
On Fridays, you will have recitation sections with Anna Matsui in Hodson 315.
Departmental policy: cell phones are NOT allowed during class or during the recitation sections.
Collaboration and discussions on homework sets are encouraged, but please do your own write-up of the examples and the proofs.
Breakdown of Grades.
10% Homework (due: Fridays at 1:30 pm, give to the TA; the lowest HW grade will be dropped)
10% In-class participation (Friday's TA section; the lowest participation grade will be dropped)
25% Quizzes (Fridays, no books, notes, or technology; the lowest quiz grade will be dropped)
35% In-class midterm (no books, notes, or technology)
20% End-of-the-semester presentations
Grading Scale.
A: 90 - 100
B: 80 - 89
C: 70 - 79
D: 63 - 69
F: < 63
"+" and "-" will be determined at the end of the semester.
Mathematica.
Please install it via JHU's website.
Tentative Schedule.
Mon August 31: Vectors and vector spaces, and their proofs (Sections 1.1 and 1.2)
Homework 1, due Friday September 4, 2026
Wed September 2: Subspaces and direct sums (Sections 1.2 and 1.3)
Homework 2, due Friday September 11, 2026
Wed September 9: Span, linear combinations, systems of linear equations, and linear independence (Sections 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5)
Mon September 14:
Wed September 16: Linear transformations and matrices
Mon September 21:
Wed September 23: Matrix operations and systems of linear equations
Mon September 28:
Wed September 30:
Mon October 5: Determinants
Wed October 7: Applications of linearization in mathematics
Mon October 12: Applications of linearization in mathematics
Wed October 14:
Mon October 19: Diagonalization
Wed October 21: Inner product spaces
Mon October 26:
Wed October 28: Midterm
Mon November 2:
Wed November 4: Einstein's special theory of relativity and conditioning, and the Rayleigh quotient
Mon November 9: Geometry of orthogonal operators
Wed November 11:
Mon November 16:
Wed November 18: Jordan canonical form, minimal polynomial, rational canonical form
Mon November 23:
Wed November 25:
Mon November 30:
Wed December 2: Geometry of commuting matrices
Mon December 7: Presentations
Wed December 9: Presentations
Wed Dec 23, 2:00 - 5:00pm: Final Exam