Topics include geometry of surfaces, manifolds, differential forms, Lie groups, Riemannian manifolds, Levi-Civita connection and curvature, curvature and topology, Hodge theory. Additional topics such as bundles and characteristic classes, spin structures, and Dirac operator, comparison theorems in Riemannian geometry.
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeNone
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeMaybe Prof. Wei used a different grading system in the past, but Math 4B in W24 was reasonable. Tests are reasonable, lectures are good, and quizzes are normally reasonable. Lectures can be a bit hard to understand, but she posts everything. Easy to piece together yourself. Would take again over some other math profs. Rating 4 to boost.
Prof Wei's class was a horrible experience. Lectures were confusing and she would often speed through her lecture slides. Homework was managable due to unlimited tries. Midterms (2 worth 20% each) were challenging, but the Final (40%) did not resemble her "Final review" whatsoever and left me lost. Overall, self learning is a must, and take CLAS!
Avoid unless you have no choice! Pretty much a self-taught course because lectures are useless and hard to follow. Concepts are actually simple, but become really hard to grasp when you aren't taught it well! HW is doable and problems are fair, but did horribly on tests despite feeling confident about the material and attending CLAS every week.
Closely all the grading bases on exam. No easy point. Tough grader. Weird lecture.
** rating for MATH 4A. Wei is extremely difficult to understand during lecture. I completely self taught myself linear algebra, & going to CLAS saved me. Her lectures are useless. Midterms are 40% and the final is 40%, with the other 20 being HW -- ridiculous grade breakdown. Also did not inform students of the letter grade breakdown as it was TBD
The weekly homework in this class is tough; you get unlimited chances though. The biweekly quizzes and the midterm are similar to the homework, but then the final absolutely murders you, and shell curve the final grade down. For my class she didnt drop the lowest quiz/hw grade on time, which left things on an irresponsible note.