This is the main index for information on the 10-credit unit known as MSM203a or MSM3P04a on Polynomials and Rings (part of "Polynomials and Rings and Metric Spaces"). Materials here are for use of Birmingham University Mathematics students only and are copyright. You must not distribute them further without permission.
Beware: I use "0" (zero) rather than "O" (capital oh) in the code for this module. I am not sure what is officially correct - I see both in lots of documents.
The module plan with all basic organisational details, syllabus etc., as issued on Friday 28th September is here: msm203aplan.pdf. This contains timetable etc. Note the late change to the location of Examples Class that was made after the first (printed) version of the module plan was made available. Also note that we are aware that a substantial number of students have a clash with MSM201 at this time. We are investigating what if anything we can do about this and an announcement will be made in due course.
I am ahead of schedule at present, and should have one of more extra lectures available for examples or revision. However there is a chance that the lecture and examples class on Dec 3rd.
You will get full model answers and feedback to Exercise sheet 5 before you leave for Christmas. Obviously, the hand-in date for this is going to be very close to the end of term, so it may not be possible to return marked work to you by December 13th. (This is made worse by the fact that I am also currently teaching another module with the same assessment deadlines.) Please understand and be assured that the marked work will be available at the very beginning of the spring term.
Note that these are not a substitute for lecture notes, but may help you revise from your lecture notes afterwards. I will not provide printed or scanned lecture notes, so don't lose your own copy!
Note too that Exercise sheet 5 has some details on Eisenstein's criterion and Gauss's Lemma, which are required for some part exam questions. I will explain in lectures how much of these are required for the coming exam.
You are supposed to do an extra task, which is an extended essay. See noether.pdf. Please let the lecturer know if you think this applies to you.
Note: these web pages and on-line resources are not a substitute for attending lectures and you must look avter your handouts from lectures carefully as not all of them can be replaced. They are copyright and for students taking this module only and not to be distributed further.
Richard Kaye. Go UP to undergraduate modules page.