18.600 Probability and Random Variables: Spring 2021

Lectures: MWF 2-3 virtual, see Canvas site for Zoom links

Office hours: MW 3-3:30 plus Friday 3:00-4:00

TA Recitations: Problem solving recitations each Thursday

  Andrew Lin: Thursday noon-1pm virtual

  Pro Jiradilok: Thursday 2pm-3pm, virtual

  Sergei Korotkikh: Thursday 4pm-5pm, virtual

TA office hours:

  Andrew Lin: Thursday 1pm-2pm, Friday 8pm-9pm

  Pro Jiradilok: Thursday 3pm-4pm, Friday 4pm-5pm

  Sergei Korotkikh: Tuesday 10am-11am, Friday 10am-11am

  Elisabeth Bullock: Wednesday 8pm-9pm

Text: A First Course in Probability, by Sheldon Ross. I use the 8th edition, but students are welcome to use 6th, 7th, 9th or 10th editions as well. Both hard copies and electronic versions can be obtained inexpensively online by looking up "first course in probability" via google, amazon, ebay, etc. (Here's another free and fun book.)

Assignments: 10 problem sets (60%), 2 midterm exams (20%), 1 final exam (20%)

Final exam: Tuesday, May 25, 9am-noon. Check registrar posting for updates.

Gradebook: managed on Canvas site

Numbering note: Until spring 2015, the course now called 18.600 was called 18.440. It was renamed as part of a departmental effort to make course labels more logical. The current label conveys that 18.600 is a foundational class and a starting point for the 18.6xx series.

Story sheet: This story sheet contains things you really should know by heart (although, during this strange year, you can reference it during the exams if you have to). Math fluency requires knowing at least few things by heart: Pythagorean theorem, definition of sine, etc. The red items on the story sheet are things students should know (or be able to quickly derive) by the end of the course: the "basic discrete random variables" by the first midterm, and the "basic continuous random variables" and "moment generating and characteristic function" facts by the second midterm. Try to learn the story that goes with each concept while it is being covered. Some of these items are pretty easy to remember (or deduce from basic principles) once you have the concepts down.

Merged lectures: Here is a printable pdf file containing a preliminary version of all of the lectures for the course. You can print this out and take notes on it during lecture if this is helpful. (I left outline pages in, so there should be room for notes there.) Note that if changes are made to the slides during the semester, they won't necessarily be updated on this document.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE