Dr. Sadun's M367K Topology, Spring 2008

Lecture Meeting time and place: Tu-Th 11-12:30, RLM 5.104.

Web page: http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/sadun/S08/367K

Professor: Lorenzo Sadun, RLM 9.114, x1-7121

Office hours: TBA

Textbook: Topology, by James Mukres (2nd edition).

Syllabus: Most of chapters 1-5 and parts of chapter 7.

Homework: There will be weekly problem sets, listed in http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/sadun/S08/367K/hwk.html.  These will be collected on Thursdays, beginning January 18.   This is a very important part of the course, since the only way to really learn to write proofs is to write proofs!  (It's also worth 40% of your grade.)

Exams: There will be two in-class midterm exams, on February 7 and April 1, plus a final exam.  The first midterm is expected to cover chapter 1, while the second will cover chapters 2 and 3.  These exams will all be closed book. However, each student will be allowed to bring a single letter-sized ``crib sheet'' (2-sided) to each midterm, and 2 crib sheets to the final. These notes must be HANDWRITTEN ORIGINALS - NO XEROXING ALLOWED. Calculators are NOT allowed on the exams (and would be useless anyway).

Grading: Each midterm counts 20%. The final exam counts 40%. The homework counts 40%. At the end of the term I will drop your lowest 20%.  The final grade distribution is neither a straight scale nor a fixed curve. It depends on how well the class does as a whole, but I expect to give more B's than A's, and more A's than C's.

Honor system:  There will be a vote on the first day of class on whether to govern the class by the honor system.  

Disabilities: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY

 First Homework assignment (due Thursday, January 18):  State a mathematical fact or formula that you find interesting, and prove it.  You can assume all reasonable facts and theorems that lead up to your result, but you should make clear what you are assuming.   This assignment will be graded and everybody who makes a credible effort will get 100%.  I mostly want to see the extent to which you can write a clean proof.   [Warning: the most trivial facts are often the hardest to prove, because there's so little that you can assume.  Don't try proving that 2+2=4, unless you're willing to give precise definitions of "2", "+", "=" and "4"!]