Syllabus for Math 451: Abstract Algebra I

Section 1

Fall 2007

Prerequisite: By permission only

Text: Michael Artin's Algebra, Prentice Hall, 1991, ISBN 0-13-004763-5. Addall.com prices -- cost $25 to $75 (used).

Web Page: http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~wjcook/ma451-fall2007

Meeting times: The lecture will be held every Monday and Thursday from 10:20am until 11:40am in the Science and Engineering Resource Center (SEC) room 217 on Busch Campus.

Final Exam: The final exam will be held on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 from 12:00pm until 3:00pm. The final exam will be held in our regular classroom (SEC 217).

Lecturer:

Name:

Dr. William (Bill) Cook

Office:

Hill Center 334 (on the Busch Campus)

Office hours:

Monday and Wednesday from 3:30pm until 4:50pm
Other times by appointment

Phone:

(732) 445-1316

Email:

wjcook@math.rutgers.edu

Webpage:

http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~wjcook

Course topics: We will cover selections from the first 9 chapters of Artin's Algebra. I plan to cover most or all of chapters 2 (basic group theory), 5 (groups and symmetry), 6 (more group theory including the Sylow theorems), and 9 (group representation theory). Although we will be focusing on group theory, we may delve into the chapters on linear algebra (1, 3, 4, and 7) as needed.

I will update the following schedule as we go along: http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~wjcook/ma451-fall2007/schedule.html.

The term grade will be based on the results of the examinations, homework problems, and class participation. We will have 2 midterm (80 minute) exams and a final exam. Homework sets will be assigned approximately once per week. Here are the weights of the different components:

Component

Percentage

Exam #1

20%

Exam #2

20%

Final Exam

40%

Homework

20%