E-mail: ted@math.upenn.edu
Math. Dept. Office: DRL 4W1, Ext. 8-8178.
Homework
Homework assignment 1(Due Monday Sept.
8)
Homework assignment 2 (Due Friday Sept.
19)
Homework assignment 3 (Due Friday Oct. 3)
Homework assignment 4 (Due Friday Oct. 17)
Homework assignment 5 (Due Wednesday Oct. 29)
Homework assignment 6 (Due Wednesday Nov. 12)
Homework assignment 7 (Due the last day of class, Dec. 8)
Course Guide
Text:
Kenneth Rosen Elementary Number Theory and its Appications, Fifth Edition, Pearson/Addison Wesley.
- Syllabus:
- Congruences, RSA cryptography, Moebius inversion, Primitive roots, Quadratic Reciprocity,
Continued Fractions, Factoring and Primality testing, Introduction to Analytic
Number theory, Quantum computing.
- Office hours:
- These will be in the evenings via Skype, and we will arrange times for office hours in class.
- How to make attending lectures efficient:
- Before each lecture, check the
current homework and lecture schedule,
and read the appropriate parts ot the text. After each lecture, you should review your lecture notes,
reread the corresponding sections of the book and solve related
homework problems.
- Homework:
- Homework will be due at the beginning
of the lecture on Monday, after which it will be graded and returned.
I will move toward having a lead time of at least 10 days between
the time homework is assigned and the time it is due, but the lead
time will be shorter at the beginning of the term.
You are encouraged to get help with the homework, and work together on it.
Just copying someone else's work of course does little good to anyone,
but cooperative effort and discussion of problems can be very effective
in learning mathematics. A good procedure is to try the work first on
your own and then go over it with others. Each student has to hand in their
own homework.
The first HW will be due Monday, September 8.
- Writing project:
- During the semester, I will be posting suggestions
about papers concerning number theory which you might find
interesting to read. When you find one which appeals to
you, you should write a short expository or research paper about this,
considering related literature and possible related problems.
This paper will be due at the end of the term,
and will count for 10% of your grade. This is a great
opportunity for you to study a subject in more depth,
and to try doing some research on your own!
- Getting help:
- Please e-mail me with questions about the course,
and we can set up a Skype meeting if this is useful.
Approximate Grading Weights:
50% -- Homework
20% -- Writing project
15% -- Midterm exam Wednesday Oct. 1, in class
15% -- Final (cumulative), time and place TBA
Here are some number
theory links:
A terrific link about the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci numbers!
Euclid's Elements
The Prime Page
Survey article by Peter Shor on quantum computing
Last updated: 8/24/14
Send e-mail comments to: ted@math.upenn.edu