Geometry/Topology I: Algebraic
Topology, Fall 2021
Instructor
- Xiang Tang, Cupples I, 112B,
xtang@math.wustl.edu
Classroom
and Time
- Cupples I, Room 6, TuTh 2:30-4
pm.
Zoom Office Hour
- Monday 4-5 p.m., Tuesday 1-2
p.m., Thursday 5-6 p.m., or by appointments. Please find the Zoom link on the CANVAS syllabus.
Webpage
- http://www.math.wustl.edu/~xtang/Fall2021-GT1.html
Text
- Algebraic Topology, by
Allen Hatcher
Reference
- Elements of algebraic topology, by James
Munkres
Prerequisite
Lectures
- You are strongly recommended to attend the lectures. No talk, food
and drinking is allowed in class. Please close your
cell phone or change it to ``silent". Information about
materials covered and homework assigned every week will be
updated on the course website.
Preview
- We will discuss fundamental group (Chapter 1), homology
(Chapter 2), and cohomology (Chapter 3) of a topological
space.
Homework
- You will have graded homework turned in every Thursday by 6
p.m. Late
homework will not be accepted! The
homework collected is to be considered a bare minimum of
homework that you should do. "A" students will generally do
nearly every problem in the exercise sections.
- We will use an online system called CrowdMark to collect and
distribute homework, https://app.crowdmark.com/sign-in/wustl,
which you can sign in with your Canvas account. Only PDF and
JPEG format files will be accepted by CrowdMark. You will need
to upload your work for each problem separately. Simply drag
and drop your files to the upload areas under the questions or
browse to locate them. You can drag between questions, and add
or delete pages under each question. Please make sure your
pictures are sharp
enough to be graded. And please ensure the uploaded
pages are in
order and rotated correctly if your
solution is written on several pages.
- Homework is graded according to the following distribution.
Each homework set consists of 5 problems. Each problem counts
for 10 points and the total score of a homework is 50
points.
Exams
- There will be one midterm and one final exam. The following
is the schedule
| Midterm Exam |
October 28, 2021, 2:30-3:50 |
Lopata Hall 302 |
| Final Exam |
December 22, 2021, 3:30-5:30 p.m. |
Lopata Hall 302 |
Grading scale
- Homework: 50%, Midterm: 25%, Final: 25%. The grades are
assigned according the percentage you are in the class.
- You are expected to take the exams at their scheduled
times. If you are away because of a university
sporting event or field trip, then you may arrange for your
coach or professor to administer the exam. Excused absences
may be granted in the case of illness or bereavement. All
excused absences must be granted before the exam is taken.
The final exam date cannot be changed for reasons of
traveling convenience.
- In total, we will collect 10 homework sets. You are allowed
to drop the lowest homework score.
- Letter grades will be given based on your overall score. The
cutoffs for the various letter grades will be no higher than
the following:
Disability
Resources
Covid Policies
- Students
are expected to follow university-mandated COVID safety
procedures.
- If
you are sick, quarantined, or do not pass WashU
self-screening, do not come to class in person. Watch
the recorded lecture for that day instead