Preparatory Homework

Due Monday, September 21, at the start of class.

This homework was conceived to refresh the student on basic concepts we will use in the course, so working through it now means meeting each idea for the second time rather than the first. A well-prepared student should spend under an hour on each of the five exercises. Spending longer on a single exercise to make up some background (e.g. convex optimization) is perfectly fine. Being unable to complete most of the homework, on the other hand, is a signal that this course may not be a good match.

Submission

Submit a single PDF on Brightspace by the start of class on Mon Sep 21. You may typeset in LaTeX or scan legible handwritten work.

Collaboration and AI

You may discuss these problems with other students, and you may use AI assistants. Disclose both — a line at the top naming who you worked with and how you used any assistant is enough. Nothing prevents you from having one write your answers, but the preparation is the entire point, and you would be skipping it. Looking up a definition from convex analysis or multivariate calculus is ordinary and expected; outsourcing the reasoning is not.

Grading

Worth 10% of the final grade. Each part is worth the points marked beside it, 100 in total, and those points are awarded for a genuine attempt rather than for a correct answer — a blank or a one-line non-answer earns nothing. Solutions are released after the deadline.