MATH 662 Seminar in Algebra - Abstract Algebra
Spring 2017
This course is a second course in Abstract Algebra and is offered at the Masters level. There is a prerequisite of at least one semester of undergraduate abstract algebra, i.e., either groups, quotient groups, and group homomorphisms, or rings, quotient rings, and ring homomorphisms, or Math 645-646. The prerequisites will not be waived. As a master's level course, it will go quickly, with 2-4 sections a week and substantial homework. However, the difficulty of the homework will not be at the Ph.D. level for which the book could be used.
Professor: Dr. Sue Geller
Office: 219 B Blocker
Office Hours: by appointment made at /undergraduate/advising/ and click on me.
Email: geller@math.tamu.edu
Fax: 979-862-4190 and be sure to put my name on it.
Welcome to the home page for Math 662 Seminar in Algebra - Abstract Algebra for the Spring of 2016. These pages will continue to be
under construction, so please check them regularly for any changes,
especially in due dates and assignments.
This course will consist of reading assignments, problem assignments,
and tests. You may find yourself challenged in
new ways by the assignments because some of the problems are difficult.
If using other sources, please give references. Note: The answers to all the homework can be found on the web. You may not look them up, paraphrase them, and give reference. That is cheating and plagiarism. Also, if you started this course before and dropped it, you may not use the solutions I sent out to you as that is plagiarism also, not to mention you won't learn enough to pass the tests if you copy the homework answers.
Textbook
Dummit and Foote, Abstract Algebra, third edition, Wiley and Sons, 2003.
The rest of the materials will be available in .pdf form from this website or my homepage.
We will be using Piazza.com as a discussion board/place to ask questions and get help and a place for me to place announcements. You will receive an email from Piazza asking you to enroll. Please do. I monitor the discussion and toss in suggestions or answers as I think I can be helpful. Since that can't be set up until I hear from all of you, my first announcement is that I will be traveling on 2-5 February when I will be taking students to a conference in Nebraska, so will have less email access than usual. Please know that I have one copy of the book and don't carry it with me. Please put not only the problem number in the start of a question stream but also copy the problem onto piazza.
Another source of help is essays which I wrote to expand upon the text, since
the text was written for a local class. Thus I wish to give information that
would typically be given in class. Please note that the essays/lectures are copywrited by me. To access the lectures, click
here.-->
Homework
- The assignments will be posted on
Homework . Notice that the list of
readings are for a given week (week of x where x is a Monday) with the
homework on those sections due the Tuesday of the following week (x+8).
- Homework is due by noon CT on the listed due date.
- You may send your homework to me via email or fax (979-862-4190).
If you send by email, please make the subject line Math 662 homework i,
where i is the number of the homework set (1-13), and send the answers in the
body or as a .pdf file which came from a word processed document or handwritten. Word documents will not be accepted as they cannot be accurately read on our local Unix machines. Emailed .pdf files are preferred since faxes are often hard to read.
If you fax it to me, be
sure to mark clearly on the first page that the fax is for Dr. Sue Geller
so that it gets to me and be sure to use very black ink (and clear handwriting)
as fax transmission is rarely of high quality and tends to blur what is sent.
- When working on the homework, you may ask on Piazza, talk with classmates,
or look things up on the web or in a book, but you may not copy
answers - that is plagiarism.
NOTE: If you did not have a first course in abstract algebra, you may need to work more of the problems than I assigned in order to learn the material, especially questions in the beginning of the list for each section. Please do what you need to do to learn. I'm happy to answer questions on problems I did not assign.
Tests, Final, and Points
- There will be two tests, currently scheduled for 24-25 February and 24-25 March. I will send out the exam around 5 pm CT on the Friday and expect your answers back to me via email by 5pm CT on the next day unless other arrangements are made ahead of time. Such arrangements may be due to your work schedule, time zone problems, your travel, etc.
- The final will be 5-6 May, done like the tests - sent at 5 CT on Friday and due back by 5 CT on the next day.
- The tests and final will be done according to the Aggie Honor Code. You may use your textbook and the one reading plus your homework, my lectures, your notes, if any, and my homework solutions, but you may not use any other materials nor communicate with anyone but me about the problems. In particular, you may not use the web in any way, shape, or form. You may ask me via email (not Piazza as that is web), but I may not be able to be helpful without giving the answer away. On the other hand, I may have made a mistake, in which case I'll email everyone a correction.
- Each tests counts 100 points.
- The final will be 100 points.
- The homework is worth 100 points calculated as a percentage of the points earned through the semester over the total possible points.
- Total possible points for the course is 400.
Grades
Your final grade will be determined by your performance on the homework,
tests and final.
The grading
scheme is:
360 to 400 is an A.
320 to 359 is a B.
280 to 319 is a C.
240 to 279 is a D.
0 to 239 is an F.
Late Work
I realize that almost all of you are working and/or have families, so you
have different constraints than students on campus. It is very helpful to me
as well as useful for you to do each assignment on time. For example,
I know from experience, as do many
of you, that it is much harder to grade fairly when papers are graded
at various times. Therefore,
late work will not be accepted without prior arrangements, but
reasonable excuses will be accepted as long as the privilege is not abused.
When arranging
for late work, be prepared to tell me when you will get the work to me.
Notes:
If you want to discuss a problem by voice (i.e. phone), please give me
some times when you will be available, and I'll try to call you then.
Otherwise you may call me at work but I have a lot of meetings so am not always in my office.
All email correspondence must contain the course number in the subject
heading so that I can easily distinguish it from my other class, spam, and other types of
correspondence.
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated.
Simply changing some words from a passage is still plagiarism unless you
reference the source. There is an old quip "Stealing from one source is
plagiarism, from many research." As with most quips, it is both true and
false. To be true research there needs to be something from yourself in
the essay/answer. The truth in the quip is that research is built
on the results of many before us, but they need to be given the credit for
their work for it to be morally, ethically, and legally correct.
Also, simply copying an answer from someone is both cheating
and plagiarism. I repeat from above that you may not use the solutions to the problems in the book that are out on the web. Don't cheat nor plagiarize.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination
statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with
disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students
with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for
reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a
disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability Services,
currently located in the Disability Services building at the Student Services
at White Creek complex on west campus or call 979-845-1637. For additional
information, visit http://disability.tamu.edu.
Academic Integrity Statement
"An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do."
See the
Honor Council Rules and Procedures for more information.