Math 371, Spring 2013

Algebra

Faculty

Professor: Dr. Aaron M. Silberstein
E-mail: aaronsil AT math.upenn.edu
Telephone: (215) 898-5974; Department office: (215) 898-8178.
Office: DRL 4C3; Department office: DRL 4W1-6.
Office hours: W 1-3, and by appointment.
TA: Matti Astrand, DRL 4C17 matti AT math.upenn.edu.

Course Structure

Lectures: MWF 10-11, DRL 4C6.
Labs: T or Th, 6:30-8:30pm, DRL 4C6.
Textbook: Algebra, Abstract and Concrete, by Frederick M. Goodman, available in exchange for a charitable donation to the charity of your choice at his website.
Homework: Weekly problem sets, to be handed in at 1:00 pm Fridays to Matti's office.
Exams: No midterms! Presentation below.

Description of course: This is the second semester of a year-long undergraduate course in algebra. This semester will emphasize topics concerning groups, rings, and fields. The basics of linear algebra (as covered in Math 370) will be assumed, and will be used where appropriate in the course.

The course will be varied, involving theory, computations, and examples. It is open to undergraduate students, both to math majors and others. Math 503 is a more advanced and more theoretical course in algebra than Math 371, and that course is open both to undergraduate and graduate students. Students are expected to have taken Math 370 or the equivalent, and to be familiar with vector spaces and matrices. Students who would like a reference on linear algebra may wish to look at the book "Linear Algebra" by K. Hoffman and R. Kunze, or the book of the same title by Lipschutz and Lipson in the Schaum Outline series. Some prior familiarity with the concepts of groups, rings, algebras, and fields would be helpful but not essential. Students who would like another reference to the topics of Math 371 may wish to consult "A First Course in Abstract Algebra" by John Fraleigh, or "Schaum's Outline of Abstract Algebra" by Lloyd Jaisingh.

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (due Friday, January 25 at 1 pm in Matti's mailbox). TeX Source.
Problem Set 2 (due Friday, February 8 at 1 pm in Matti's mailbox). TeX Source.
Problem Set 3 (due Friday, March 1 at 1 pm in Matti's mailbox). TeX Source.
Problem Set 4 (due Friday, March 22 at 1 pm in Matti's mailbox). TeX Source.
Problem Set 5 (due Friday, April 26 at 1 pm in Matti's mailbox). TeX Source.

Projects

The list of projects is here. Your first assignment is to figure out how to compile the problem set, which is written in TeX, a typesetting program for mathematics. TeX has the advantage that it takes a little while to learn but saves incredible amounts of time in the future (TeX will make you ask yourself why Equation Editor even exists). It will be useful for your projects, which we will compile into a booklet, as you will be able to make edits after our consultation in April. For information on LaTeX/TeX, a typesetting system which handles mathematics, consult TUG. It will have information on the proper distribution for your system. I recommend The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX as a reference, but there are a number of other references available, all from the TUG page. If you use a Mac, I can recommend the editor TeXShop. Problem Sets are now available with TeX source code, as examples.

Student Projects

Presenter	Project	Date/Time
Assaph Aharoni	4	Monday April 15 10:30
Jose-Maria Barrero	19	Monday April 22 10:00
Simon Benigeri>	14	Wednesday April 17 Office Hours Slot 2
Camilo Bermudez	16	Friday April 19 10:20
Archit Budhraja	6	Wednesday April 17 Office Hours Slot 1
Josh Cooper	1	Monday April 15 10:00
David Costigan	20	Monday April 22 10:10
David Fertig	17	Friday April 19 10:30
Zachary Goldsmith	3	Monday April 15 10:20
Constantin Gumenița	21	Monday April 22 10:20
Charles Jeon	23	Monday April 22 10:40
Seth Koren	7	Wednesday April 17 10:00
Himesh Lad	9	Wednesday April 17 10:20
Jason Liberman	11	Wednesday April 17 10:40
Emile Mohler	13	Friday April 19 10:10
Andrei Nagornyi	12	Friday April 19 10:00
Samuel Passaglia	18	Friday April 19 10:40
Jonathan Roth	22	Monday April 22 10:30
Rami Sherif	15	Wednesday April 17 Office Hours Slot 3
Benjamin Wang	5	Monday April 15 10:40
Brandt Wong	8	Wednesday April 17 10:10
Xin Xiong	2	Monday April 15 10:10
Chenchong Zhou	10	Wednesday April 17 10:30

Projects writeup:tex pdf.

Congratulations on great projects! The projects booklet needs cleaning up; if any of you would like to edit and clean up your sections, feel free to send me an updated copy of the TeX document.