On the examination

The exam is to take place on the 11th of December. The location is announced only a few days before, by NTNU's central administration.

• The exam covers all material given in the course (lectures, lecture notes, exercises, backed up by extra course material as described on this home page), with an emphasis on the lecture notes and the exercise sheets.

• In general, all answers need to be rigorously justified, and also standard proofs could be asked for (but for the level of these, see the old exams). The exams from last year, including the continuation exam, can be found here, and some earlier exams and problem sets here.

• The best results are generally seen among students who learnt the theory, and who studied the examples given in the class, in the lecture notes and in the problem sets. Students who focus only on the matrix (finite-dimensional) theory might pass if they write precise and justified answers.

• The outcome of a problem is typically related to its level of rigour and abstraction (or even just using the words 'prove' or 'show' instead of 'calculate').

• Check the themes page to see that you know all the relevant concepts.

• Practice solving and proving – justifying each step for yourself and others – and expressing your thoughts in a concise and mathematical way. Check the official solutions to see examples of proper mathematical writing.

• This course requires knowledge of definitions, theorems, and ways of proof. Do not think you can get away with less, because there is no way around knowing the concepts and arguments.