Online courses directory (2511)

The topic of the class is information economics. The purpose is to give an introduction to some of the main subjects in this field: risk sharing, moral hazard, adverse selection (signaling, screening), mechanism design, decision making under uncertainty. These subjects (and others) will be treated in more depth in the advanced theory courses on Contract Theory.

In this course, we study elliptic Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) with variable coefficients building up to the minimal surface equation. Then we study Fourier and harmonic analysis, emphasizing applications of Fourier analysis. We will see some applications in combinatorics / number theory, like the Gauss circle problem, but mostly focus on applications in PDE, like the Calderon-Zygmund inequality for the Laplacian, and the Strichartz inequality for the Schrodinger equation. In the last part of the course, we study solutions to the linear and the non-linear Schrodinger equation. All through the course, we work on the craft of proving estimates.

Statistical Mechanics is a probabilistic approach to equilibrium properties of large numbers of degrees of freedom. In this two-semester course, basic principles are examined. Topics include: Thermodynamics, probability theory, kinetic theory, classical statistical mechanics, interacting systems, quantum statistical mechanics, and identical particles.

The course provides students with (1) an introduction to the geologic history of western North America, with particular emphasis on our field camp location and (2) an introduction to both digital and traditional techniques of geological field study. The weather permitting, several weekend field exercises provide practical experience in preparation for Field Geology II (12.115). It presents introductory material on the regional geology of the locale of 12.115.

This is a discussion-based interactive seminar on the two major issues that affect Sub-Saharan Africa: HIV/AIDS and Poverty. AIDS and Poverty, seemingly different concepts, are more inter-related to each other in Africa than in any other continent. As MIT students, we feel it is important to engage ourselves in a dynamic discussion on the relation between the two - how to fight one and how to solve the other.

This course is a seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. Among the institutions to be looked at are political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities. The focus of the course is on readings and discussions.

The central point of this course is to provide a physical basis that links the structure of materials with their properties, focusing primarily on metals. With this understanding in hand, the concepts of alloy design and microstructural engineering are also discussed, linking processing and thermodynamics to the structure and properties of metals.

This course focuses on China's transition from plan to market. What has the trajectory of institutional change in China been, and how has growth been achieved? Is that growth sustainable? Subject examines specific aspects of reform (enterprise, fiscal, financial, social welfare), and the systemic consequences of interaction between various reform measures. Additional topics include the interaction between political and economic change, the transformation of state-society relations, and the generalizability of China's reform experience. Graduate students are expected to explore the subject in greater depth.

This course is a workshop for students with some experience in writing essays, nonfiction prose. Our focus will be negotiating and representing identities grounded in gender, race, class, nationality, sexuality, and other categories of identity, either our own or others', in prose that is expository, exploratory, investigative, persuasive, lyrical, or incantatory. We will read nonfiction prose works by a wide array of writers who have used language to negotiate and represent aspects of identity and the ways the different determinants of identity intersect, compete, and cooperate.

This course explores electromagnetic phenomena in modern applications, including wireless and optical communications, circuits, computer interconnects and peripherals, microwave communications and radar, antennas, sensors, micro-electromechanical systems, and power generation and transmission. Fundamentals include quasistatic and dynamic solutions to Maxwell's equations; waves, radiation, and diffraction; coupling to media and structures; guided waves; resonance; acoustic analogs; and forces, power, and energy.

This course explores statistical modeling and control in manufacturing processes. Topics include the use of experimental design and response surface modeling to understand manufacturing process physics, as well as defect and parametric yield modeling and optimization. Various forms of process control, including statistical process control, run by run and adaptive control, and real-time feedback control, are covered. Application contexts include semiconductor manufacturing, conventional metal and polymer processing, and emerging micro-nano manufacturing processes.

15.514 is an intensive introduction to the preparation and interpretation of financial information for investors (external users) and managers (internal users) and to the use of financial instruments to support system and project creation. The course adopts a decision-maker perspective on accounting and finance with the goal of helping students develop a framework for understanding financial, managerial, and tax reports. 15.514 is restricted to System Design and Management students.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement is hereby given to Professor G. Peter Wilson for his authorship of the following content in this course:

• The Five Challenges (see Syllabus and Lecture 1)
• "What Do Intel and Accountants Have in Common?" (see Lecture 1)
• A Conceptual Framework for Financial Accounting (see Lecture 1)