Stochastic Processes I
A-
AY23/24 S1
There are two courses on Stochastic Processes. This first one deals with discrete events, while the second one deals more with continuous events. In this discrete version, we mainly deal with Markov Chains, modeling all our problems using matrices. We start off with the basics, like what a Markov Chain is, and how to represent it using a transition matrix. We then move on to more advanced topics, like how to find the steady-state distribution of a Markov Chain, and how to find the period of a system. There's lots of computations that you need to do in this course. You'll be constructing many matrices, where even the slightest error would mean your entire question is wrong. Lots of attention to detail is required, and you'll need to be fast with your calculations, as time is short during exams.
This course is very close to real-life, so a LOT of the questions will be geared towards modeling a real life scenario. For example, one of the midterm questions deals with a train onboarding passengers. Another one deals with rooms in a house, where the person travels at random around the house. Converting these scenarios into matrices is the most important skill to have here. It's a real-life skill you need to have, modeling real-world problems in terms of math.
Workload is normal for a math mod, as there are a few assignments, tutorial attendance, and exams. I stopped coming for tutorials some time in the sem, so maybe that's why I didn't get my A hahaha.