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Homework

Due 8/28
Due 9/4
Due 9/11
Due 9/18
Due 9/25
Due 10/2
10/9 no homework (Fall break)
Due 10/16
Due 10/23
Due 10/30
Due 11/6
Due 11/13 (here are Ken Brown's notes on Category Theory)
11/20 no homework
Due 11/27

As you probably all know, homework is the most important part of this course since mathematics is really learnt by doing it. Accordingly homework will contribute a substantial portion of the grade.

Assignments will be due in class on Tuesdays. Papers should be stapled and your name clearly indicated. Late homework will not be accepted, as I will endeavor to make the assignments closely follow the classes. If you have a medical excuse or other serious circumstances, allowences will be made; contact me at the earliest opportunity. The lowest two scores across the semester will be dropped as everyone has a bad week sometime, and seniors and graduate students (which I think almost all of you are) sometimes have other pressing one-off commitments.

Due to constraints on resources, not all problems may be graded.


Collaborating. You may collaborate with other students on homework. I believe, however, that for maximum benefit, you should try hard to do all the problems yourself before consulting others. What you turn in should represent your own solutions expressed in your own words, even if you arrived at these solutions with others. Remember, you are doing the homework to learn the material; do not try to defeat its purpose. Copying someone else's homework or copying solutions from the internet or elsewhere and presenting it as your own defeats the purpose of homework (and violates Cornell's Academic Integrity Code).


do your homework by Marek Uliasz

Writing well. Please organise your answers thoughtfully, neatly and legibly. Don't turn in your first draft. Pay attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Proofs should be written clearly and completely, using good English, complete sentences, and adequate detail. Imagine your fellow-students as your readers — ask yourself whether they would they be able to follow your arguments. You may be surprised to discover how much you learn in the process of writing homework solutions carefully. I think a great deal of consolidation of your knowledge takes place in the process. Please take this aspect of the homework seriously.

You may find it useful to write your solutions in LaTeX. It will be time consuming at first (if you don't already know LaTeX), but you will end up with a valuable skill that you will need eventually. Here's a guide to getting started. Well hand-written homework is fine instead.