W Stephen Wilson email: wsw@math.jhu.edu
Textbook: Number Theory, George E. Andrews.
ISBN-13: 978-0-486-68252-5
ISBN-10: 0-486-68252-8
Tuesday and Thursday 9-10:15, Krieger 308.
Office hours are Monday, 2:45-3:45 and Tuesday, 10:15-11:15. However, they 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.
The grader, Shengwen Wang, will be in the help room every Friday from 9am to 11am.
The Elementary Number Theory course is designed both as an alternative to Advanced Algebra II for math majors and students interested in the subject of number theory. The courses will be set at the math major level, even if the student is not majoring in math. The official pre-requisites are Calc II and Linear Algebra.
Students are expected to make the transition to proving things in this course if they have not already made that transition. Some will have done this already. The material is fun and interesting, and the proofs will generally be straightforward once you learn how to prove things. There will be a few more exciting problems assigned that will allow students to show they know more than others.
The transition to proving things is a difficult one and the course will be fast paced. Expect (and plan) to work hard in the course. The work load will be given under the assumption that you might be a math major and that this is one of the most important courses you are taking this semester.
The first few minutes of class on Tuesday (at exactly 9:00, my apologies in advanced for the early hour, not my doing) will be for a short test to determine if you have read the material. It will not test your understanding, just whether or not you read it and paid some minimal attention to it. This will count as 25% of your grade.
After the test, I will give a short lecture explaining what was really important in the material you read.
On Tuesdays, the reading will be assigned for the quiz for the next Tuesday, and this material will also have a homework assignment that will be due at Noon on Friday of the following week. That's 10 days for homework. No excuses for late homework. Do it early if it is going to be a problem.
The rest of class time will be discussion. In particular, we can work on the homework problems in class.
Homework will be the other 75% of the grade. We can talk about the homework in class, endlessly if desired. Students can talk about the homework outside of class and in class. They can work on the homework together. In the end, students must write up the homework by themselves in their own words. If students appear to have "shared" the writing duties, they will also share the points for the homework (i.e. for two students, 30 points on a homework will give each 15 points). There will be no exams. If this class format breaks down for any reason, we will revert to regular midterm tests and there will be a different formula for grades.
I will give you your class standing every week. Students in the bottom half of the class will be required to attend class and if they don't, their grade will suffer significantly.
The draft syllabus, subject to, but not likely to, change.
Tues, Sept 4, first class. Reading assignment # 1 (and homework on) Chapter 1. (Homework # 1 due Fri, noon, Sept 14.)
Tues, Sept 11: Quiz # 1. Reading assignment # 2 (and homework on) Chapter 2, Sections 1-3. (Homework # 2 due Fri, noon, Sept 21.)
Tues, Sept 18: Quiz # 2. Reading assignment # 3 (and homework on) Chapter 2, Section 4 and Chapter 3, Sections 1-2. (Homework # 3 due Fri, noon, Sept 28.)
Tues, Sept 25: Quiz # 3. Reading assignment # 4 (and homework on) Chapter 3, Sections 3-5 and Chapter 4, Section 1. (Homework # 4 due Fri, noon, Oct 5.)
Tues, Oct 2: Quiz # 4. Reading assignment # 5 (and homework on) Chapter 4, Sections 2-3 and Chapter 5, Section 1. (Homework # 5 due Fri, noon, Oct 12.)
Tues, Oct 9: Quiz # 5. Reading assignment # 6 (and homework on) Chapter 5, Sections 2-4. (Homework # 6 due Fri, noon, Oct 26.) The week of Oct 14-20, we only have one class, Thurs, Oct 18. We will not have a quiz or assign homework that week.
Tues, Oct 23: Quiz # 6. Reading assignment # 7 (and homework on) Chapter 6, Sections 1-4. (Homework # 7 due Fri, noon, Nov 2.)
Tues, Oct 30: Quiz # 7 (on 6.1-4). Reading assignment # 8 (and homework on) Chapter 7, Sections 1-2. (Homework # 8 due Fri, noon, Nov 9.)
Tues, Nov 6: Quiz # 8 (on 7.1-2). Reading assignment # 9 (and homework on) Chapter 8, Sections 1-3. (Homework # 9 due Fri, noon, Nov 16.)
Tues, Nov 13: Quiz # 9 (on 8.1-3). Reading assignment # 10 (and homework on) Chapter 9, Sections 1-4. (Homework # 10 due Fri, noon, Nov 30.) (Note Thanksgiving in here somewhere. There will only be the once class that week, Tues, Nov 20. No quiz or homework assigned.)
Tues, Nov 27: Quiz # 10 (on 9.1-4). Reading assignment # 11 (and homework on) Chapter 10, Sections 1-2. (Homework # 11 due Fri, noon, Dec 7.)
Tues, Dec 4: Quiz # 11 (on 10.1-2). No reading or homework assigned. Last week of class. Final homework due that Friday.