This is the third quarter in a basic graduate course in abstract algebra,
which should help you to pass the Algebra Qualifying Exam. The course is
structured to fit this goal. For obvious reasons, participation both in the
lecture and the discussion is strongly recommended.
GRADING: The final grade in the course will be calculated from
your scores in homeworks, midterm and final, with the following weights:
Homeworks 30%, Midterm 20%, Final 50%. There is a strong emphasis on the
final; each of the three final exams (Fall, Winter and Spring) should be
understood as a small version of the Qualifying Exam, so this should give you
some additional practice.
HOMEWORKS: There will be 6-8 homework assignments, the number
depending on the progress in the class. Each assignment will be divided into
three groups.
Group 1 Will contain 5-10 problems, which need to be turned in on
the date specified. Five of these will be chosen and
graded, and will contribute to the final grade. (Those five will only be
announced after the homeworks are turned in.)
Group 2 These are problems from the book that are not supposed to
be turned in, but I will assume you know how to do them and understand the
topics in connections with those problems. These problems will often concern
facts and topics which are important, but we do not have time to discuss them
in the lecture, and also they are quite straigthforward to work out. Also,
many of these problems will constitute part of the background for problems
from Group 1.
Group 3 Additional problems of interest from the book. I will not
assume you know how to do this, but strongly recommend to work through them.
Again, it is strongly recommended that you work on all problems in each
assignment set, as this practice will be helpful for Qualifying Exam.
Also, many of them are closely related to the
problems on the homework assignment sheet, and may help you toward solutions
of those problems.
I will be posting homework problems after each lecture, so that you can start
working on topic we discussed in the lecture right away. However, the
assignment sheet may be incomplete; in this case I will explicitly say this on
the assignment sheet. Once the assignment sheet is complete, it may contain
problems on topics from several lectures, and I will again explicitly say this
on the assignment sheet. Turn in each assignment on the due date, with
preferably all problems on the complete assignment addressed. If a problem we
choose for grading is not addressed on your assignment, you will receive 0
points for that problem.
EXAM DATES: Final: TBA
Midterm: TBA
You should make sure already now that you are able to take the exams on
the specified dates, as there will be no make-up exams. Exceptions will be
granted only in the case of a fully documented personal emergency