Month: February 2021

Lecture 1: Overview

Our first lecture provides motivation for the topics we’ll cover in the course, and takes a deep dive into one specific example (curvature of curves in the plane) to highlight some of the basic principles of discrete differential geometry. This example moves pretty fast and uses some ideas that we’ll study at a slower, more careful pace later on. For now, don’t worry too much about the details—the goal here is to just get a sense of what the course is all about!

Assignment -1: Favorite Formula

Part of your course grade is determined by participation, which can include both in-class participation as well as discussion here on the course webpage.  Therefore, your first assignment is to:

  1. create an account (you must use your Andrew email address, so we can give you participation credit this semester!),
  2. sign up for Piazza and Discord,
  3. read carefully through the Course Description and Grading Policy, and
  4. leave a comment on this post containing your favorite mathematical formula (see below).
To make things interesting, your comment should include a description of your favorite mathematical formula typeset in $\LaTeX$.  If you don’t know how to use $\LaTeX$ this is a great opportunity to learn — a very basic introduction can be found here.  (And if you don’t have a favorite mathematical formula, this is a great time to pick one!)
 
(P.S. Anyone interested in hearing about some cool “favorite theorems” should check out this podcast.)

Welcome to Discrete Differential Geometry! (Spring 2021)

Welcome to the website for 15-458/858 (Discrete Differential Geometry).  Here you’ll find course notes, lecture slides, and homework (see links on the right).

If you are a student in the class, register now by clicking here!

To participate in the class, you must register using your Andrew (CMU) email address.

A few things to note:

  • You will be subscribed to receive email notification about new posts, comments, etc.
  • You can ask questions by leaving a comment on a post.  If you’re apprehensive about asking questions in public, feel free to register under a pseudonym.
  • Otherwise, please associate a picture to your profile by registering your email address at Gravatar.com—doing so will help us better recognize you in class!
  • You can include mathematical notation in your questions using standard $\LaTeX$ syntax.  For instance, when enclosed in a pair of dollar signs, an expression like dollar\int_M K dA = 2\pi\chidollar gets typeset as $\int_M K dA = 2\pi\chi$.
If you encounter any problems while trying to use the website, please contact the TA (listed under the course description).