Math 504: Modern Algebra

Professor William McGovern; Grader Pal Zsamboki 
Fall 2010


Instructor:
Monty (or William) McGovern
Office: Padelford C-450
Phone: 206-543-1149
Email: mcgovern@math.washington.edu
Grader email: zsamboki@math.washington.edu
Grader office hours: W 12:50-2:20; office Padelford C-34
Office Hours: drop in, or by appointment, Padelford C-450
Lectures:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 9:30-10:20 a.m., Padelford Hall C-36
Required Text:

Abstract Algebra, by Dummit and Foote, (3d ed., Wiley, 2004).

Prerequisites:
Math 404 or the equivalent. 
Grading:
Your grade will be based on weekly homework, counting 40%, and a final exam, counting 60%. The final exam will be comprehensive. If you cannot complete a homework assignment on time, you can always turn it in by 4:00 on the day it is due to Pal's mailbox. PLEASE turn in WHATEVER YOU CAN rather than nothing. In the final you may use two letter-sized pages (one sheet front and back of notes in your own handwriting). class.
Incompletes and Drops:
The grade of Incomplete will be given ONLY if a student has been doing satisfactory work until the end of the quarter and then misses the final exam for a documented illness, religious reason, or family emergency.
What to Expect:
I will concentrate on module theory this term, starting with a general introduction from Chapter 10, moving to the classification of finitely generated modules over a PID and its applications to linear algebra and abelian groups (Chapter 12), then returning to Chapter 10 to do some homological algebra, and finally winding up with representations of finite groups (Chapters 18 and 19) and an introduction to group cohomology (Chapter 17). I will broadly follow the text and try to indicate at all times where and how it treats the material I am discussing, but I will feel free to omit certain topics, cover others in greater depth, and discuss still others that are not in the text at all.

             Homework

v
Due:
Problems:
Oct 1
10.2.1,3,6,9,11: read 10.1,10.2
Oct 8
10.3.9,11,17,24,27: read 10.3,11.1,2,4
Oct 15
12.1.15,17,19; 12.2.4,8: read 12.1--12.3
Oct 22
12.3.23; 10.4.12,15; 11.5.7,8: read 12.3,11.5,10.4
Oct 29
10.4.11; 10.5.2,3,15 [CORRECTIONS: M is Z-module; f,F are Z-homomorphisms; f',F' are R-homomorphisms; Q is an injective Z-module],16: read 10.4,10.5,18.1
Nov 5
18.1.10; 18.2.7,8,13,14: read 18.2,18.3
Nov 12
18.3.12 [10 points]; 19.1.5,17 [20 points each]: read 19.1,19.2
Nov 19
17.1.2,3,9; 17.2.1 [correction: \epsilon, not aug, is the augmentation map],8: read 17.1,17.2
Dec 3
pick problems on your own; skim 17.4


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