Algebraic Geometry I Fall 2014

Instructor: Y.P. Lee, JWB 305
Office Hours: TBA + any time my office door is open.

Lecture/Problem Session
Time. MWF 14-14:50 and T 14-14:50
Room. JWB 308

Course Information
Website: http://www.math.utah.edu/~yplee/teaching/6130f14/
Textbook: Algebraic Geometry by Robin Hartshorne.
References: Vakil's unfinished book, EGA (English translation?.)
Catalogue Number: 6130. Class Index Number: 14388.

Course Description: This will be the first semester for 2-semester series of Introduction to Algebraic Geometry. Our goal is to cover the first three chapters of the textbook.

There will be 4 hours of meeting time each week, roughly 50% on lectures and 50% on problem sessions. Because I believe strongly in active learning, the problem sessions will be the core of the class. The pace of the lectures will be brisk and the students are expected to work very hard outside the classroom. The participants of the lectures should plan to study at least 1 hour per lecture to keep up with the class. Those who plan to participate in the problem sessions should expect to invest a lot more (and perhaps learn a lot more in return)!

Regarding Commutative Algebra and Complex Analysis: My policy on the purely algebraic results is consistent with Hartshorne's textbook. Namely, these results will be quoted as needed, with references to the literature for their proofs. My suggestion to the students, if they have not seen these results before, is to skip back and forth between the textbook (or course notes) and books on commutative algebra, using the geometric examples to enrich the algebra, and the clean-cut algebraic techniques to clarify the geometry. Nevertheless, it is very useful to have basic working knowledge of commutative algebra, at the level of Introduction to Commutative Algebra by Atiyah and Macdonald, before plunging into Hartshorne's book.

Homework: Problem solving is vital for this class. We will try to work on as many problems as possible from the textbook. I will actively seek groups of volunteers to report their solutions in the problem sessions.
Exams: No exam.