MATH 406 Section 0201 -- INTRODUCTION TO NUMBER THEORY

SPRING 2009

Time and Room: MWF at 1:00 in MTH 0306

Instructor: Professor David W. Kueker
Office: MTH 2105
Phone: (301)405-5159
dwk@math.umd.edu
Office Hours: MW 2:00

Text: Kenneth H. Rosen, Elementary Number Theory and its Applications, Fifth Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2005.

Description: A thorough introduction to number theory, including applications to cryptology.
Topics:

Chapter 1: Integers, induction, and divisibility.
Chapter 3 (through 3.5): Prime numbers, greatest common divisors, and the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic.
Chapter 4 (through 4.3): Congruences and the Chinese Remainder Theorem.
Chapter 6: Some special congruences.
Chapter 7 (through 7.3): Multiplicative functions.
Chapter 9 (through 9.4): Primitive roots.
Chapter 11 (through 11.2): Quadratic residues and the law of quadratic reciprocity.
Chapter 8 (part): Cryptology

Note: The list of topics is subject to revision.
Course Work: There will be regular homework assignments, two one-hour exams, and a two-hour final exam. The homeworks are worth a total of 100 points, the one-hour exams are worth 100 points apiece, and the final is worth 200 points, for a total of 500 points.

Exam Schedule:

Exam 1: Friday 27 February.
Exam 2: Monday 6 April.
Final Exam: Friday 15 May, 1:30-3:30.

Collaboration on homework: You may freely discuss the homework with others, but the work submitted must be your own, written in your own words.