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Differential Equations: An Introduction for Engineers

This is the free, open-source, open-access textbook that I have been working on for Math 244. It is based on Notes on Diffy Qs, a text by Jiri Lebl, but with adjustments made to better fit the version of a differential equations course that we run at Rutgers. The main adjustments and improvements to the text are:

  • Addition of an appendix on MATLAB, providing an introduction to the basic syntax of coding and the code provided with the course,
  • Addition of a section on Mathematical Modeling, including information on parameter estimation and bifurcations for autonomous equations,
  • Rearrangement of topics in certain sections, including adding a section on Eigenvalues to the Linear Algebra chapter,
  • Snippets of MATLAB code illustrating several concepts, and
  • Addition of many more exercises throughout the text.

As of now, the topics in the textbook are:

  • First Order Equations
  • Second Order Equations
  • Linear Algebra
  • Linear Systems of Differential Equations
  • Non-Linear Systems of Differential Equations

The additional topics from Notes on Diffy Qs are generally covered in our Math 421 class, and may be included in the book in future editions. The current updates that are planned (for version 1.0) are

  • Chapter review sections and exercises
  • Answers to more book exercises

The current version of the textbook (version 0.9) can be found here. A github will be available for the LaTeX code for this book in the near future.