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Real Analysis (G5145)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

Real Analysis serves as a gentle introduction to the exciting theory of metric spaces: a fundamental theory in mathematical analysis and a prerequisite for several modules in Years 3 and 4.

A metric space is a set together with a function, called a metric, which measures the distance between any two elements of the set. For example, the absolute value of the difference between two real numbers is a metric, turning the set of reals into a metric space. This simple structure – a set and a distance – encompasses many important examples. It enables us to study notions familiar from the real numbers, such as convergence of sequences or continuity of functions, in a unified framework. This gives rise to a rich and elegant theory for metric spaces which recovers many known properties of the real numbers, but also provides new results for more complex examples, like sets of sequences or sets of functions, with vast applicability.

As an application, the module focuses on functions defined on the real line. It studies power series, uniform convergence, and introduces Lebesgue spaces, an important space of functions for mathematical analysis as well as subsequent modules.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 39 hours of contact time and about 111 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.