Math 180A, Lecture A00

Instructional Staff and Office Hours

Please, check the following calendar for possible reschedulings of the office hours. You are welcome to attend the office hours of either of the TAs, not just your own.

Calendar

Class Meetings

	Date	Time	Room
Lecture (YN)	Monday, Wednesday, Friday	12 - 12:50 PM	MANDE B-210
Discussion A01 (TG)	Friday	4 - 4:50 PM	HSS 4025
Discussion A02 (SQ)	Friday	5 - 5:50 PM	HSS 4025
Discussion A03 (SQ)	Friday	6 - 6:50 PM	HSS 4025

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Important dates

	Week	Date	Time	Room	Policy
Midterm Exam 1	4	Wednesday, February 1	12 - 12:50 PM	MANDE B-210	Midterm Exams
Midterm Exam 2	8	Wednesday, March 1	12 - 12:50 PM	MANDE B-210	Midterm Exams
Final Exam	Finals	Wednesday, March 22	11:30 AM - 2:30 PM	TBA	Final Exam

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Syllabus

Welcome to Math 180A: a one quarter course introduction to probability theory. This course is the prerequisite for the subsequent courses Math 180B/C (Introduction to Stochastic Processes) and Math 181A/B (Introduction to Mathematical Statistics), as well as for MATH 114 (Introduction to Computational Stochastics), MATH 194 (The Mathematics of Finance) and Math 189 (Exploratory Data Analysis and Inference). According to the UC San Diego Course Catalog, the topics covered are probability spaces, random variables, independence, conditional probability, discrete and continuous probability distributions, joint distributions, variance and moments, the Laws of Large Numbers, and the Central Limit Theorem.

Here is a more detailed listing of course topics, in the sequence they will be covered, together with the relevant section(s) of the textboox. While each topic corresponds to approximately one lecture, there will be some give and take here. This is a rough schedule that will be updated during the term.

Date	Week	Topic	ASV	Preliminary slides	Final slides
1/9	1	Administrivia. Definition of Probability	1.1	Slides 1	Slides 1
1/11	1	Random sampling	1.2	Slides 2	Slides 2
1/13	1	Basic Properties of Probability	1.3-1.4	Slides 3	Slides 3
1/16	2	Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
1/18	2	Basic Properties of Probability	1.4	Slides 4	Slides 4
1/20	2	Conditional probability	2.1	Slides 5	Slides 5
1/23	3	Bayes' rule	2.2	Slides 6	Slides 6
1/25	3	Independence	2.3	Slides 7	Slides 7
1/27	3	Random variables. Probability Distributions	3.1	Slides 8	Slides 8
1/30	4	CDF and PDF	3.2	Slides 9	Slides 9
2/1	4	Midterm 1
2/3	4	CDF and PDF	3.2	Slides 10	Slides 10
2/6	5	Independent Trials. Binomial, Geometric, and Poisson Distributions	2.4-2.5, 4.4	Slides 11	Slides 11
2/8	5	Expectation	3.3	Slides 12	Slides 12
2/10	5	Expectation	3.3	Slides 13	Slides 13
2/13	6	Variance	3.4	Slides 14	Slides 14
2/15	6	Gaussian (Normal) Distribution	3.5	Slides 15	Slides 15
2/17	6	Gaussian (Normal) Distribution	3.5, 4.1	Slides 16	Slides 16
2/20	7	Presidents' Day Holiday
2/22	7	Normal Approximation. Law of Large Numbers	4.1-4.2	Slides 17	Slides 17
2/24	7	Confidence intervals	4.3	Slides 18	Slides 18
2/27	8	Poisson approximation	4.4	Slides 19	Slides 19
3/1	8	Midterm 2
3/3	8	Exponential Distribution	4.5, 5.1	Slides 20	Slides 20
3/6	9	Moment generating function	5.1	Slides 21	Slides 21
3/8	9	Joint distribution	6.1-6.3	Slides 22	Slides 22
3/10	9	Joint distribution	6.1-6.3	Slides 23	Slides 23
3/13	10	Independence. Expectations of sums and products	8.1-8.3	Slides 24	Slides 24
3/15	10	Covariance. Correlation.	8.3-8.4	Slides 25	Slides 25
3/17	10	Tail probabilities. Law of Large Numbers. Central Limit Theorem	9.1-9.3	Slides 26	Slides 26

Prerequisite:  The only prerequisites are calculus up to and including Math 20C (Multivariate Calculus) or MATH 31BH (Honors Multivariable Calculus). Math 109 (Mathematical Reasoning) is also strongly recommended as a prerequisite or corequisite.

Lecture:  You are responsible for material presented in the lecture whether or not it is discussed in the textbook. You should expect questions on the exams that will test your understanding of concepts discussed in the lecture.

Homework:  Homework assignments are posted below, and will be due at 11:59 PM on the indicated due date.  You must turn in your homework through Gradescope; if you have produced it on paper, you can scan it or simply take clear photos of it to upload. Your lowest homework score will be dropped.  It is allowed and even encouraged to discuss homework problems with your classmates and your instructor and TA, but your final write up of your homework solutions must be your own work.

Exams

Midterm Exams:  The two midterm exams will take place during the lecture time on the dates listed above.

• You may bring one 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper with handwritten notes (on both sides) with you to each midterm exam; no other notes (or books) will be allowed.
• No calculators, phones, or other electronic devices will be allowed during the midterm exams.
• There will be no makeup midterm exams.
• The detailed midterm exam instructions will be posted one week before each midterm.

Final Exam:  The final examination will be held at the date and time stated above.

• It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final examination; you should not enroll in this class if you cannot take the final examination at its scheduled time.
• You may bring two 8.5 by 11 inch sheets of paper with handwritten notes (on both sides) with you; no other notes (or books) will be allowed.
• No calculators, phones, or other electronic devices will be allowed during the final examination.
• There will be no makeup final exam.
• The detailed final exam instructions will be posted one week before the final exam.

The above exam policies will be applied to in-person exams. The exam policies will be changed in case of the change in exam modality. More detailed instructions will be posted on this website later.

Administrative Links:    Here are two links regarding UC San Diego policies on exams:

• Exam Responsibilities  An outline of the responsibilities of faculty and students with regard to final exams
• Policies on Examinations  The Academic Senate policy regarding final examinations (These are the rules!)

Regrade Policy:  

• Your exams and homeworks will be graded using Gradescope.  You will be able to request regrades directly from your TA through Gradescope for a specified window of time.  Be sure to make your request within the specified window of time; no regrade requests will be accepted after the deadline. Note: Your grader will consider your regrade request only if you have explained clearly, thoroughly, and politely why you think an error in grading was made.

Grading: Your cumulative average will be computed as the best of the following weighted averages:

• 20% Homework,  20% Midterm 1,  20% Midterm 2,  40% Final Exam
• 20% Homework,  20% Best midterm,     60% Final Exam

Your course grade will be determined by your cumulative average at the end of the quarter, and will be based on the following scale:

A+	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-
97	93	90	87	83	80	77	73	70

The above scale is guaranteed: for example, if your cumulative average is 80, your final grade will be at least B-. However, your instructor may adjust the above scale to be more generous.

Academic Integrity:  UC San Diego's code of academic integrity outlines the expected academic honesty of all studentd and faculty, and details the consequences for academic dishonesty. The main issues are cheating and plagiarism, of course, for which we have a zero-tolerance policy. (Penalties for these offenses always include assignment of a failing grade in the course, and usually involve an administrative penalty, such as suspension or expulsion, as well.) However, academic integrity also includes things like giving credit where credit is due (listing your collaborators on homework assignments, noting books or papers containing information you used in solutions, etc.), and treating your peers respectfully in class. In addition, here are a few of our expectations for etiquette in and out of class.

• Entering/exiting class: Please arrive on time and stay for the entire class/section period. If, despite your best efforts, you arrive late, please enter quietly through the rear door and take a seat near where you entered. Similarly, in the rare event that you must leave early (e.g. for a medical appointment), please sit close to the rear exit and leave as unobtrusively as possible.
• Noise and common courtesy: When class/section begins, please stop your conversations. Wait until class/section is over before putting your materials away in your backpack, standing up, or talking to friends. Do not disturb others by engaging in disruptive behavior. Disruption interferes with the learning environment and impairs the ability of others to focus, participate, and engage.
• Electronic devices: Please do not use devices (such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, iPods) for non-class-related matters while in class/section. No visual or audio recording of the class meetings is allowed without prior permission of the instructor (whether by camera, cell phone, or other means).
• E-mail etiquette: You are expected to write as you would in any professional correspondence. E-mail communication should be courteous and respectful in manner and tone. Please do not send e-mails that are curt or demanding.

Accommodations:

Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) which is located in University Center 202 behind Center Hall. The AFA letter may be issued by the OSD electronically or in hard-copy; in either case, please make arrangements to discuss your accommodations with me in advance (by the end of Week 2, if possible). We will make every effort to arrange for whatever accommodations are stipulated by the OSD. For more information, see here.

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