Math 611: Algebra I
Fall 2015
Instructor: Paul Hacking, LGRT 1235H, hacking@math.umass.edu
Meetings:
Classes: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:05AM--9:55AM in LGRT 219.
Office hours: Mondays 3:00PM--4:00PM and Tuesdays 5:00--6:00PM, in my office LGRT 1235H.
Course text: Abstract Algebra, by D. Dummit and R. Foote, 3rd ed., Wiley 2004. googlebooks.
Other useful references:
Algebra by M. Artin. googlebooks.
Algebra by S. Lang. googlebooks.
Introduction to commutative algebra by M. Atiyah and I. MacDonald. googlebooks.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate abstract algebra at the level of UMass Math 411--412.
Homework:
Homeworks will be assigned every 1--2 weeks and posted on this page.
HW1. Due Wednesday 9/23/15. Solutions.
HW2. Due Wednesday 9/30/15. Solutions.
HW3. Due Wednesday 10/7/15. Solutions.
HW4. Due Wednesday 10/21/15. Solutions. SolutionQ11b
Midterm review problems. (Will not be graded.) Solutions. CorrectionQ8.
HW5. Due Wednesday 11/4/15. Solutions.
HW6. Due Friday 11/13/15. Solutions. SolutionQ1b
HW7. Due Wednesday 12/2/15. Solutions.
HW8. (Will not be graded.) Solutions.
Exams:
There will be one midterm exam and one final exam.
The midterm exam will be held on Wednesday 10/28/15, 7:00PM---8:30PM, in LGRT 219. Please try the midterm review problems here. Review problem solutions here. CorrectionQ8.
The midterm exam is here. Solutions are here.
The final exam will be a take home exam distributed on Friday 12/11/15 and due on Friday 12/18/15.
The final exam is here.
The algebra sequence 611--612 is also assessed via the algebra qualifying exam. General information. Syllabus.
Grading:
Your course grade will be computed as follows: Homework 30%, Midterm 30%, Final 40%.
Overview of course:
Here is the syllabus for 611. Roughly speaking it correponds to Chapters 1--12 of Dummit and Foote. The full syllabus for the Graduate algebra sequence 611--612 is here.
(1) Group Theory.
Group actions. Counting with groups. p-groups and Sylow theorems. Composition series. Jordan-Holder theorem. Solvable groups. Automorphisms. Semi-direct products. Finitely generated Abelian groups.
(2) Rings.
Euclidean domain is a principal ideal domain (PID). PID is a unique factorization domain (UFD). Gauss Lemma. Eisenstein's Criterion.
(3) Modules.
Exact sequences. First and second isomorphism theorems for R-modules. Free R-modules. Hom. Structure Theorem for finitely generated modules over a PID. Rational canonical form. Jordan canonical form. Bilinear forms. Tensor product of vector spaces, Abelian groups, and R-modules. Right-exactness of the tensor product. Restriction and extension of scalars. Symmetric and exterior algebras.
This page is maintained by Paul Hacking hacking@math.umass.edu