Introductory Number Theory

Fall semester 2021
Course: MATH 3370
Course record number: 56284
Instructor: Y. Sommerhäuser
Schedule:
- Time: Mon, Wed, Fri 2:00 pm-2:50 pm
- Room: SN 1019
Office hours of Y. Sommerhäuser: Wed, Fri 3:15 pm-4:15 pm and by appointment
Textbook: D. E. Rideout: MATH 3370 Course Manual, 3rd edition, Memorial University, St. John's, 2019 (required resource)
Outline: The course covers at least the first six chapters of the textbook. Topics covered are primes and perfect numbers, the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, congruences, the Chinese remainder theorem, and the structure of the multiplicative group of the integers modulo m. Time permitting, additional chapters of the textbook will be covered, for example applications of number theory to cryptography.
Exams: There will be a midterm exam and a comprehensive final exam. The midterm exam takes place on Wednesday, October 13 during regular class time in our usual classroom. The final exam takes place on Friday, December 10, from 9:00 am to 12:00 m in SN 2064.
Homework: Beginning Monday of the second week, a weekly exercise sheet will be handed out. This has to be submitted in class on the following Monday. There will be no exercise sheet during the week of the midterm exam and no exercise sheets during the last two weeks of the semester. In addition, a reading assignment from the textbook will be given in every lecture.
Prerequisite: MATH 2320 (Discrete Mathematics)
Examination criteria: The final mark will be computed using the following weights.
- Homework: 25 percent
- Midterm exam: 25 percent
- Final exam: 50 percent
Policies: Eating, drinking, and smoking is not permitted in the classroom. You are expected to be present at every class meeting, from the beginning to the end. Attendance will be taken and used to make decisions in borderline cases. The use of electronic devices, especially cellphones, calculators, and laptop computers, is not permitted without explicit permission of the instructor. Electronic devices have to be turned off completely.
Syllabus.
Exercise sheets:

Former courses
Last modified: November 22, 2021