Applied Analysis Preliminary Exam Syllabus
The principal reference for this syllabus is:
[1] J.K. Hunter and B. Nachtergaele, Applied Analysis.
With the exception of the topics from advanced calculus, a question may
appear on the exam if and only if the topic is covered in one of the sections
of [1] listed below. Recommended supplemental references include:
[2] A. Friedman, Foundations of Modern Analysis.
[3] W. Fulks, Advanced Calculus.
[4] P. Lax, Functional Analysis.
[5] A.N. Kolmogorov and S.V. Fomin, Introductory Real Analysis.
[6] H. Royden, Real Analysis.
Advanced Calculus
- Integration of functions of several variables: line and volume integrals in 2D, line, surface, and volume integrals in 3D.
- Differentiation: gradient, curl, divergence, Jacobian. Connection between rotation-free vector fields and potential fields.
- Partial integration, Green鈥檚 theorems, Stokes鈥 theorem, Gauss鈥 theorem. The consequences of these theorems for vector fields that are divergence or rotation free.
- The concepts max, min, sup, inf, lim sup, lim inf, lim.
- Convergence criteria for sequences and series.
Metric and Normed Spaces:
- The topology of metric spaces. Normed spaces. Cauchy sequences. Compactness. Completeness. Sections 1.1 鈥 1.7.
- Basic properties of the space of continuous functions on a metric space. The Arzel脿-Ascoli theorem. Sections 2.1, 2.2, and 2.4.
- The contraction mapping theorem. Sections 3.1 and 3.3.
Banach Spaces:
- Bounded linear maps between Banach spaces, different topologies on the set of bounded operators between Banach spaces. The kernel and the range of a linear map. Connection between an operator being coercive and having closed range. The exponential of a bounded operator on a Banach space. Sections 5.1 鈥 5.5.
- The dual of a Banach space. The Hahn-Banach theorem. Compactness of the unit ball in the weak topology on reflexive spaces. Section 5.6 (weak-* convergence and the full Banach-Alaoglu theorems are not included).
Hilbert Spaces (separable spaces only):
- Orthogonal sets and orthonormal bases. Bessel鈥檚 inequality. Parallelogram law and polarization identity. Sections 6.1 鈥 6.3.
- Riesz representation theorem. Section 8.2.
- Fourier series. Parseval identity. Convolutions. Section 7.1.
- Sobolov spaces on the \(d\)-dimensional torus. Sobolev embedding. Section 7.2.
Linear Operators on Hilbert Spaces:
- The adjoint of an operator. Self-adjoint, normal, and unitary operators. Projections. \(\overline{\text{ran} A} = (\ker A^*)^\perp\). Fredholm alternative, in particular for the case of the identity plus a compact operator. Sections 8.1, 8.3, 8.4.
- The spectrum of general operators on a Hilbert space. Basic properties of the resolvent operator. The spectral theorem for self-adjoint compact operators. Functions of operators. Sections 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5.
Measure Theory, Integration, and Lp-spaces:
- Basic properties of Lebesgue measure. Nullsets. 鈥淎lmost everywhere鈥 and 鈥渆ssential supremum鈥. Sections 12.1 and 12.2 (but only the concepts listed here).
- Definition of the Lebesgue integral. Section 12.3.
- Convergence theorems: Fatou鈥檚 lemma, Monotone convergence, Lebesgue dominated convergence. Section 12.4.
- Fubini鈥檚 theorem (with respect to Lebesgue measure on \(\mathbb{R}^d\) only). Section 12.5.
- Definition of \(L^p(X,\mu)\) for a measure space \((X,\mu)\). H枚lder鈥檚 and Minkowski鈥檚 inequalities. The dual of \(L^p(X,\mu)\) for \(p\in[1,\infty)\). Density of simple functions, and compactly supported smooth functions in \(L^p(\mathbb{R}^d)\). Sections 12.6, 12.8, and parts of 12.7.