3510, Sections 001 & 002, Fall 2020
Abstract Algebra
Conley
Syllabus

This course will be taught in a remote asynchronous format, except that there will be 3 in-person midterms and a scheduled on-line final exam; see below for dates and times.

Office Hours: M 2-5, T 12-1 & 3-4, W 12-4, R 1-2 & 4-5, F 2:30-4:30

During these times I will normally be in my office, GAB 419, for either Zoom or walk-in in-person meetings. For Zoom meetings, check Canvas to see if there is one in progress you can join. If not, email me to set one up. In-person meetings with more than one student will be in the GAB 4^th floor atrium outside my office.

Due to the unusual circumstances this term I will try to be available as often as possible. If you would like to meet outside the above times, just email me with a range of possible times. If there is interest and the weather permits, we may hold exam review sessions at one of the outdoor teaching spaces: see https://vpaa.unt.edu/return.

Lectures and Text: lectures will be posted on Canvas. If possible I will allow interested students to attend as I record them. The text is an e-Book: A First Course in Abstract Algebra, 8^th edition, by Fraleigh and Brand. Pearson Publishing offers physical copies only by rental.

Because the lectures will not be in-person, I expect that many of you will need to rely on the text more than usual. I want to emphasize that reading math texts is not like normal reading: the information is so condensed that in order to really absorb it you have to write down the theorems, proofs, and examples as you read them and work through them yourself as you go along. It is completely possible to spend half an hour trying to understand a single paragraph. This is frustrating because you feel like you will never finish the reading, but this approach should make the homework go a lot more quickly.

Grading: tentatively, each of the 4 exams (including the final) will count for 20% of your final grade and the homework will count for the remaining 20%. I will finalize those numbers as soon as possible. After each exam I will give you your letter grade on that exam and also your overall letter grade in the course so far. At any point in the course you may ask about your grade up to that point.

Homework should be written by hand, scanned or photographed legibly, and turned in on Canvas as a pdf, jpg, or png file. It will normally be due every Friday by 5 PM. (Switched to Mondays by 11:59 PM.)

A word on collaboration and looking up solutions: it is ok for you to work with one another, and I will not try to enforce any policy preventing you from looking up solutions. However, you will do better on the exams if you do as much of the homework as possible on your own, and the exams make up 80% of your grade.

Final Exam: 15 to 20 minute oral exams via Zoom, held Monday, December 7 and Tuesday, December 8. Please send me your available time ranges via Canvas.

Problem Set 15, due Tuesday, December 8, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 22: 33, 34, 40, 42 (for 2Z and 3Z only), 43 (for p = 2 and p = 3 only), 44, 45, 46, 57*
   Section 24: 2, 4, 6, 10, 24, 27, 28*, 29*, 30*

Problem Set 14, due Tuesday, December 1, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 22: 4, 6, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 25

Midterm Exam 3: in-person, Saturday, November 21, 2:00-3:20, BLB 080

Problem Set 13, due Monday, November 23, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 8: 40
   Section 9: 5, 11, 53
   Section 10: 3, 15, 39
   Section 12: 15, 37
   Section 13: 1, 2, 3, 15 & 16 (commutator subgroups only), 17, 37, 42, 43, 44

Problem Set 12, due Monday, November 16, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 12: 24, 30, 32, 33, 36
   Section 13: 4, 5, 15, 16, 18, 36, 38, 39, 40

Problem Set 11, due Monday, November 9, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 10: 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 41, 50*
   Section 12: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16

Problem Set 10, due Monday, November 2, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 10: 2, 4, 6-12, 14, 16, 30, 36, 42

Problem Set 9, due Monday, October 26, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 8: 41a, 43, 47, 51, 56*
   Section 9: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14bcd, 15, 16, 46, 47

Problem Set 8, due Monday, October 19, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 4: 3, 9, 17, 18, 36, 38*
   Section 5: 21ab, 27, 28, 31, 49, 59, 64
   Section 6: 5, 9, 15, 17, 23, 24d, 25, 31, 35, 58*, 59, 63*, 64, 67a
   Section 8: 18, 24, 44, 48, 50

Midterm Exam 2: in-person, Saturday, October 17, 2:00-3:20, BLB 080

Problem Set 7, due Monday, October 12, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 6: 54, 55, 56, 60, 62, 66
   Section 8: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 35, 36, 37, 39

Problem Set 6, due Monday, October 5, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 5: 46, 47, 48, 53, 58, 61, 62, 65*
   Section 6: 4, 6, 10, 16, 18, 22, 24b, 30*, 32, 36, 53

Problem Set 5, due Monday, September 28, by 11:59 PM:

   Section 4: 12, 13, 14, 30, 33, 37*
   Section 5: 20, 21de, 30, 32, 33, 36, 45

Midterm Exam 1: in-person, Saturday, September 19, 2:00-3:20, BLB 080

Problem Set 4, due Saturday, September 19, by 1 PM (extension due to Saturday Exam 1):

   Section 0: 33, 40
   Section 1: 3, 5, 11
   Section 2: 9, 31
   Section 3: 31, 33, 35
   Section 4: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15, 16, 32 for n=3 only, 34, 35
   Attention! Do the Section 4 Problems from 1 to 16 using different permutations sigma and tau:
                     Use sigma: 1 maps to 2, 2 maps to 3, 3 maps to 4, and 4 maps to 1,
                          and tau: 1 maps to 1, 2, maps to 3, 3 maps to 2, and 4 maps to 4.

   Here are some extra problems, not to turn in, in case you would like more review:
   0.39, 1.44 (a hard puzzle), 2.21 (a counting problem), 2.45 (another hard puzzle).

Problem Set 3, due Monday, September 14, by 5 PM (extension due to Labor Day):

   Section 2: 28, 29*, 32*, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 44
   Section 3: 22, 23, 29, 32, 34, 36

Problem Set 2, due Friday, September 4, by 5 PM:

   Section 1: 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 32, 42, 43
   Section 2: 3, 4, 5, 10

Problem Set 1, due Sunday, August 30, by 9 PM:

   Section 0: 3, 4, 26, 32, 34, 35a, 36a, 38