Math 120A: Differential Geometry
Fall 2025
Instructor: Sucharit Sarkar.
Class: MWF 11:00-11:50, MS 6627.
Office hours: M 08:00-09:00 16:00-17:00, MS 6909.
Textbook: Do Carmo, Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces.
Additional reading: Millman and Parker, Elements of Differential Geometry.
Useful
links: MyUCLA,
Department
page.
Prerequisite: 32B, 33B, 115A, 131A.
Schedule: We will try to follow the schedule from
the
Department
page. The following are the topics that we covered in class.
Class notes.
Homework and Quiz: Homeworks are not going to be graded. Nevertheless, you should
work on the
following homeworks, arranged by week, which will help significantly with your
understanding of the course material. You may work in groups on your
homework; this is generally beneficial to your understanding and helps you learn how to
communicate clearly about mathematics. Every week, starting from Week 2, we will have an
in-class quiz with one of the homework problems for that week.
Exams: There is a single 3 hour final exam, which is non-collaborative closed-book
exams. You are not allowed to use books, notes, or any electronic devices (such as
calculators, phones, computers). Submitting the final exam is mandatory, and there are no
make-up exams. In particular, note that university policy requires that a student who misses
the finals be automatically given F, unless the absence is due to extreme and documented
circumstances, which were discussed with the instructor prior to the finals, and the
performance in the course is otherwise satisfactory, in which case, the grade might be I (at
the instructor's discretion).
The final will be on
Tuesday, December 9, 08:00-11:00,
location
TBD.
Here is an old final:
2016.
Grading: Numerical grades will be recorded in the
MyUCLA gradebook and the composite numerical grade will be
computed as 50% Quiz + 50% Final. (Your lowest quiz score will be dropped.) Based on the
numerical grade, a letter grade will be assigned: 90%=A,
80%=B, 70%=C, 60%=D. However, a curve compatible with the department
guidelines and historical norms might be applied, which might increase
your letter grade (but never decrease it).
If you believe a problem on a quiz or the final has been graded
incorrectly, or that your score was not correctly recorded in the
MyUCLA gradebook, you must bring this to the attention of the
instructor within 10 calendar days of the date of the exam, and before the end of the
quarter. Grading complaints not initiated within this period of time
will not be considered. Please verify in a timely manner that your
scores are correctly recorded on MyUCLA.