Course Material for Elementary Number Theory, 110.304, Spring 2016

Professor: W Stephen Wilson, Krieger 421, wsw@math.jhu.edu

Textbook: Number Theory, George E. Andrews.
ISBN-13: 978-0-486-68252-5
ISBN-10: 0-486-68252-8

Class meets Tuesday and Thursday 9-10:15, in Krieger 300.

Office hours are Monday, 3:00-4:00. However, the way they work is I'll be there for the first 15 minutes, and if no one comes, I'll feel free to leave unless someone has emailed me and told me they are coming but won't be there in the first 15 minutes.

In addition, you should all know about the math department help room that is open nearly all day and most evenings during the week. It is in Krieger 213.

Your TA is Hanveen Koh, who staffs the help room Tuesday 3-5.

Students in this course are assumed to be serious math majors and will be treated as such. Each week there will be a reading assignment, see below, and a homework assignment due the next Tuesday sometime after 9:30. After that there will be an exam each week that is one or more of the homework problems just handed in. Also, 2 problems on your homework will be graded seriously each week. Your grade will be made up primarily from these exams and homework, which should not be hard if you have done the homework.

At the start of Tuesday class, I will give a summary of the material for the week. What is left of Tuesday (except for the exam) and most of Thursday, will be problems worked in class one way or another. This is somewhat dependent on the personality of the class. With a whole week to prepare, students should get the homework and be able to do well on the weekly exams.

Draft of syllabus below. Not likely to change, but who can predict the future.

Week # 1, begins Tues, Jan 26. Reading assignment Chapter 1. Homework and exam due Tuesday Feb 2.

Problem set # 1.

Tues, Feb 2: Quiz # 1 on Chapter 1. Reading assignment # 2 (and homework on) Chapter 2, Sections 1-3.

Problem set # 2.

Tues, Feb 9: Quiz # 2 on Chapter 2, Sections 1-3. Reading assignment # 3 (and homework on) Chapter 2, Section 4 and Chapter 3, Sections 1-2.

Problem set # 3.

Tues, Feb 16: Quiz # 3 on Chapter 2, Section 4 and Chapter 3, Sections 1-2. Reading assignment # 4 (and homework on) Chapter 3, Sections 3-5 and Chapter 4, Section 1.

Problem set # 4.

Tues, Feb 23: Quiz # 4 on Chapter 3, Sections 3-5 and Chapter 4, Section 1. Reading assignment # 5 (and homework on) Chapter 4, Sections 2-3 and Chapter 5, Section 1.

Problem set # 5.

Tues, March 1: Quiz # 5 on Chapter 4, Sections 2-3 and Chapter 5, Section 1. Reading assignment # 6 (and homework on) Chapter 5, Sections 2-4.

Problem set # 6.

Tues, Mar 8: Quiz # 6 Chapter 5, Sections 2-4. Reading assignment # 7 (and homework on) Chapter 6, Sections 1-4.

Spring break the week of March 13-19.

Problem set # 7.

Tues, Mar 22: Quiz # 7 (on 6.1-4). Reading assignment # 8 (and homework on) Chapter 7, Sections 1-2.

Problem set # 8.

Tues, Mar 29: Quiz # 8 (on 7.1-2). Reading assignment # 9 (and homework on) Chapter 8, Sections 1-3.

Problem set # 9.

Tues, Apr 5: Quiz # 9 (on 8.1-3). Reading assignment # 10 (and homework on) Chapter 9, Sections 1-4.

Problem set # 10.

Tues, April 12: Quiz # 10 (on 9.1-4). Reading assignment # 11 (and homework on) Chapter 10, Sections 1-2.

Problem set # 11.

Tues, April 19: Quiz # 11 (on 10.1-2). Reading assignment # 12 (and homework on) Chapter 11, Sections 1-2.

Problem set # 12.

Tues, April 26: Quiz # 12 (on 11.1-2). End of course more or less, but we'll find stuff to do.