Course Summary

Number theory is the study of integers, primarily their structure under the operations of multiplication and addition. Though this seems a humble beginning, it is surprising how quickly one can ask mathematical questions about integers which are exceedingly difficult to resolve. Indeed, there are numerous problems which are thousands of years old that have yet to be resolved, as well as many other ancient problems which have only been resolved due to very sophisticated mathematics. It is this contrast between simplicity and complexity which forms the aesthetic of many number theoretic problems. In this class we'll develop some basic tools which allow us to begin analyzing the structures which govern the integers.

Course Instructor

The professor for this class is Andy Schultz. His office is on the third floor of the Science Center, room S352. His office hours are Monday from 2-4, Wednesday from 9-10, and Friday from 9:30 to 10:30. You are highly encouraged to attend office hours, and you never need an appointment to do so. If these office hours don't fit with your schedule, contact the instructor so that he can either adjust when ``official" office hours are held or set up an appointment to help you outside of office hours.

You can contact the instructor at . Though he is always happy to receive emails from you with questions or concerns about the course, he can't guarantee that he'll be able to promptly reply to emails late at night or over the weekend. If you do contact the professor by email, please be sure to follow standard email etiquette. In particular, please make sure you include a greeting and signature and avoid abbreviations. If you're contacting him to ask about a problem, please be sure to specify what the problem asks (as opposed to asking something like ``I can't get problem 2 and need your help").