Math 350 - Fall 2014

Syllabus:

Congruences, RSA cryptography, Moebius inversion, Primitive roots, Quadratic Reciprocity, Continued Fractions, Factoring and Primality testing, Introduction to Analytic Number theory, Quantum computing.

Office hours:

These will be in the evenings via Skype, and we will arrange times for office hours in class.

How to make attending lectures efficient:

Before each lecture, check the current homework and lecture schedule, and read the appropriate parts ot the text. After each lecture, you should review your lecture notes, reread the corresponding sections of the book and solve related homework problems.

Homework:

Homework will be due at the beginning of the lecture on Monday, after which it will be graded and returned. I will move toward having a lead time of at least 10 days between the time homework is assigned and the time it is due, but the lead time will be shorter at the beginning of the term. You are encouraged to get help with the homework, and work together on it. Just copying someone else's work of course does little good to anyone, but cooperative effort and discussion of problems can be very effective in learning mathematics. A good procedure is to try the work first on your own and then go over it with others. Each student has to hand in their own homework. The first HW will be due Monday, September 8.

Writing project:

During the semester, I will be posting suggestions about papers concerning number theory which you might find interesting to read. When you find one which appeals to you, you should write a short expository or research paper about this, considering related literature and possible related problems. This paper will be due at the end of the term, and will count for 10% of your grade. This is a great opportunity for you to study a subject in more depth, and to try doing some research on your own!

Getting help:

Please e-mail me with questions about the course, and we can set up a Skype meeting if this is useful.

Approximate Grading Weights:

15% -- Final (cumulative), time and place TBA

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Here are some number theory links:

A terrific link about the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci numbers!

Euclid's Elements

The Prime Page

Survey article by Peter Shor on quantum computing

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Last updated: 8/24/14
Send e-mail comments to: ted@math.upenn.edu