Professor David Blecher

Welcome to Math 6397--Algebraic Topology (20396)

Class TuTh 11:30--1 in S 115. Office Hours - TuTh after class or by appointment; or on Teams Office Hour Channel, email is  dpbleche@central.uh.edu
1) Topology, A First Course, J. R. Munkres, Second Edition, Prentice-Hall Publishers (you can get great softcover editions on Amazon starting at around 20 dollars). 2) Algebraic Topology, Allen Hatcher– free here
Upcoming due dates: KEEP WATCHING THIS SPOT SINCE THINGS WILL BE ADDED. Pace yourself, dont do things at the last moment. Turn in on Blackboard Homework 1 questions 3 (new version, not the one on draft sheet), 4, 5, 9, 11, 12 by January 30.

Turn in on Blackboard Homework 2 by February 20: Questions 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12 are due 2/20. Turn in on Blackboard on March 1: Homework 3 questions 1--3. I will collect Homework 3 questions 4 and 5 on March 13. The midterm test will be on March 28. Questions 2, 6, 7 on Homework 4 are due 3/23 on Blackboard. Homework 5 due 4/4 on Blackboard (you are expected to do Question 1 and one other question of your choice). HW 6 Due April 18 on Blackboard. Homework 6 and 7 are on Blackboard. Homework 6 is due April 18, and 7 is due April 28.

Please tell me by March 15 which project you are doing.

Midterm Test on March 28 (moved on request from 21st): It will cover Sections 3.2 and 3.3 in the old notes, and Chapters 1--3 in the new notes, although I may ask you to give a very very rough sketch of the classification of surfaces (i.e a description of (some of) the main strategies in Chapter 4, such as the role of the first homology group). More details are on Blackboard.

In the last weeks of class you will be given time to begin work on a project, which you will be able to choose (see link above). If you are not doing the default project: You may do a longer project as a group, with some doing different parts of the project. Added: Since nobody indicated by the deadline that they would be doing a project, this option is no longer available as originally offered.
If you are a new graduate student taking this class, I suggest reading some material about writing mathematics. Theres lots of stuff on this on the web, as you can find by googling "writing mathematics" e.g.
here or here or here. See also the links to how to write math papers and advice on mathematical exposition in this blog by Terry Tao.