Math 477 (Probability), Section 1, Fall 2026 (Rutgers University)

http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/math477_26.html

Last Update: Aug. 3, 2026

Textbook

A first course in Probability by Sheldon Ross

Instructor

Dr. Doron ZEILBERGER ("Dr. Z") [Office: Hill 704; Email: DrZprob at gmail dot com [Note: This Email is ONLY for this class.] ]

TA at Large

TBD

Times and Place

TF3 (Tuesdays and Fridays, 12:10-01:30pm) Lucy Stone Hall-B117 (Livingstone Campus)

Dr. Z.'s Office Hours

TF 2:45-3:45, Hill 704

TA's Office Hours

TBD

CLASS POLICY (and grading method)

Answers to Homework Problems

Lecture Schedule

Mandatory Preliminary Reading: Professor James Norris's Probability Distributions [posted here by kind permison of the author].
Tues. 9/1: Lecture 1 1.1-1.5 Combinatorial Analysis
homework 1 (due 9/18)
Fri. 9/4: Lecture 2 2.1-2.4; What is Probability? Counting vs. Probability
homework 2 (due 9/18)
Tue. 9/8: NO CLASS TODAY (RUTGERS HAS MONDAY SCHEDULE TODAY)
Fri. 9/11 Lecture 3 2.5: Sample spaces having equally likely outcomes.
homework 3 (due 9/18)
Tue. 9/15: Lecture 4 3.1-3.3: Conditional Probability and Independence; Bayes's Formula
homework 4 (due 9/25)
Fri. 9/18: Lecture 5 3.4 : Independent events. Quiz 1 (On Lectures 1-3)
homework 5 (due 9/25)
Tue. 9/22: Lecture 6 4.1-4.3: Random Variables
homework 6 (due 10/2)
Fri. 9/25: Lecture 7 4.4-4.5: Expectation and Variance. Quiz 2 (On Lectures 4-5)
homework 7 (due 10/2)
Tue. 9/29: Lecture 8 4.6: The Bernoulli and Binomial Random Variables
homework 8 (due 10/9)
Fri. 10/2: Lecture 9 4.7: The Poisson Random Variable . Quiz 3 (On Lectures 6-7)
homework 9 (due 10/9)
Tue. 10/6: Lecture 10 4.8: Other Discrete Probability Distributions; Linearity of Expectation
homework 10 (due 10/16)
Fri. 10/9: Lecture 11 5.1-5.2: Continuous Random Variables; Their Expectation and Variance. Quiz 4 (On Lectures 8-9)
homework 11 (due 10/16)
Tue.. 10/16: REVIEW.
Fri. 10/16: EXAM 1 (On lectures 1-11)
Tue. 10/20: Lecture 12 5.3-5.4: The Uniform Distribution and the Normal Distribution.
homework 12 (due 10/30) Z table
Fri. 10/23: Lecture 13 5.5: The Exponential Distribution . Quiz 5 (On Lectures 10-11)
homework 13 (due 10/30)
Tue. 10/27: Lecture 14 6.1: Joint Distribution Functions
homework 14 (due 11/6)
Fri. 10/30: Lecture 15 6.2-6.3: Independent Random Variables and their Sums. Quiz 6 (On Lectures 12-13)
homework 15 (due 11/6)
Tue. 11/3: Lecture 16 6.4-6.5: Conditional Distributions
homework 16 (due 11/13)
Fri. 11/6: Lecture 17 7.1-7.2: Expectation of Sums of Random Variables. Quiz 7 (On Lectures 14-15)
homework 17 (due 11/13)
Tue. 11/10: Lecture 18 Probability Generating Functions; The Gambler's Ruin Problem.
homework 18 (due 11/25)
Fri. 11/13: Lecture 19 7.4: Covariance, Variance of Sums, and Correlations . Quiz 8 (On Lectures 16-17)
homework 19 (due 11/25)
Tue. 11/17: Lecture 20 7.5: Conditional Expectation.
homework 20 (due 12/8)
Fri. 11/20: REVIEW . No quiz today.
Wed. 11/25: EXAM 2 (On lectures 1-19, with some emphasis on lectures 12-19) .
Tue. 12/1: Lecture 21 7.7: Moment Generating Functions. Quiz 9 (On Lectures 18-19)
homework 21 (due 12/8)
Fri. 12/4: Lecture 22 8.2: Chebyshev's Inequality and the Weak Law of Large Numbers.
homework 22 (due 12/15)
Tue. 12/8: Lecture 23 8.3 and 8.4, The Central Limit Theorem and The Strong Law of Large Numbers. Quiz 10 (On Lectures 20-21)
homework 23 (due 12/15)
Fri. 12/11: 2:00pm-5:00pm (Optional, but strongly recommended) Marathon review, via WebEx

Final:

Tue., Dec. 15, 2026, 4:00-7:00pm , in CLASSROOM (LSH-B117)

Dr. Z.'s teaching