MA 423-01: Modern Algebra I

Spring 2010

Section 1

Instructor: John Perry
Office: Southern Hall, 310
Office Hours: MWF 10-11a, 2-3p
Office Phone: 601⋅266⋅4293
Email: john.perry@usm.edu
Instructor's web page: http://www.math.usm.edu/perry/
Class web page: http://www.math.usm.edu/perry/mat423sp10/
Class meeting time and location: 1-1⋅50p MWF, SH 202

Text (not required, but strongly recommended): Concrete Abstract Algebra, by Niels Lauritzen, published by Cambridge University Press, 2006 (second reprinting with corrections), ISBN 0-521-53410-0. The paperback edition should should cost less than half the hardcover price.

We rely primarily on class notes that you can download from the class web page.

Other recommended texts:

Course Description: Elementary notions in groups, Fundamental Theorem of Finitely Generated Groups, permutation groups, quotient groups, isomorphism theorems, and applications of transformation groups.

Prerequisite: MAT 326 (Linear Algebra I) and MAT 340 (Discrete Mathematics). These prerequisites constitute necessary preparation for the course; if you lack either you are at a tremendous disadvantage.

Grading: The semester grade will be determined by a weighted average, according to the weights listed below.

Tests
(there will be two; the final includes an oral component)
40% of total
Homework
(problems are graded randomly)
50% of total
Team projects
(to be explained in due course)
10% of total

Late Assignments: Any assignment turned in past the specified due date and time will receive a grade lowered by ten percent for each school day late.

Makeup work: I do not give makeup tests/quizzes/etc. without an excused absence. If you must miss class, then you must also produce documentation of the reason for your absence. If you were sick, you can show me the receipt from the hospital or doctor; if you had a sports event, you can show me the schedule; if someone died, you can show me an obituary notice; if the tire on your car blew out, you can show me the receipt from the mechanic.

Homework: I generally collect the homework for grading, but I will grade only a few random problems, not the entire assignment. It is important for you to understand every problem on the assignment, and I will provide some homework solutions to help you study.

Important note on homework: Many math majors see the purpose of homework as a "verification" that they have learned the material that was presented in class.
    This course is different. Solving homework problems is not evidence that you have learned; it is part of the learning process. It is not unusual for a one-line question to take an hour or two, or even more, where you spend most of the time trying to figure out where to start! It is vitally important that you struggle with the problems, consult other students and the professor, and generally consider finding the solutions more important than pretty much anything else.

A word about tests: Tests will consist of problems that you have not seen in class or in the homework. You should be able to solve them based on what you learned in the course. A good study guide for your tests will consist of (1) reviewing the homework and making sure you understand it, and (2) studying additional problems in each chapter.

Tutoring and study groups: I encourage you to work together on homework assignments, to look at each other's solutions, and to explain answers to each other. I may even assign study groups to work on homework assignments together. This is not the same thing as copying each other's homework.

Final Exam Date:

    Wednesday 12 May 2010, 1.30p.

The exam has two parts: a written, in-class section and an oral section. You must schedule an appointment during the week prior to the exam in order to take the oral section.

My beef with mobile phones

Mobile phones are not merely useful for business, they are by now necessary.

For personal use, however, they a curse on the human race. We lived for thousands of years without them and never once felt a pressing need to interrupt a class, a worship service, or a business meeting so as to remind someone of our undying love. The vast majority of communications sent by mobile phones constitute a waste of time and an insult to human intelligence. Why else would manufacturers invest so much energy selling them to teenagers?

Imagine! Lovers once waited days or even weeks before a letter arrived from one's beloved. They then waited days or even weeks to send and receive replies. This includes people who lived down the street! We once considered it a virtue to reflect silently before speaking. After all, an intelligent answer requires one to think before speaking.

By contrast, modernity's morons consider a silent pause following question to be a mark of ignorance, dishonesty, even mental deficiency. As the enemy of elegant speech and intelligent conversation, mobile phones, along with popular music and television, have done more to contribute to the decline of discretion, intimacy, and privacy than any common gossip, media outlet, or government surveillance program could hope to do.

No one will ever appoint me world dictator, so I cannot ban mobile phones from the face of the earth. I am, however, classroom dictator. As such, I hereby ban them from my classroom. Turn off your phone before entering the classroom. Text messaging, wearing an earpiece, etc. are prohibited and will lead to expulsion.

Note: The last day to drop a full-semester course without academic penalty is Wednesday, March 3.

ADA Syllabus Statement

If a student has a disability that qualifies under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical disabilities, or chronic health disorders. Students can contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies.

Address:

The University of Southern Mississippi
Office for Disability Accommodations
118 College Drive # 8586
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
Voice Telephone: (601) 266-5024 or (228) 214-3232

Fax: (601) 266-6035
Individuals with hearing impairments can contact

ODA using the Mississippi Relay Service
at 1-800-582-2233 (TTY) or
email Suzy Hebert at Suzanne.Hebert@usm.edu.