21-260: Differential Equations


Schedule and Homework

For each week there will be a link to a page with a reading assignment and a homework assignment.

This schedule is tentative. It will get more accurate as the semester progresses. No week's topics should be taken as final until the homework is linked.

Week #1: 
Jan 16 - 20
Homework
Geometry and Topology: Compare and Contrast.
The Fundamental Group of a Metric Space. (51, 52)
Topological Spaces. (12, 13)
Week #2: 
Jan 23 - 27
Homework
The Product and Subspace Topologies. (15, 16)
Closed Sets, Limit Points and Continuous Functions. (17, 18)
The Product Topology Revisited. (19)
Week #3: 
Jan 30 - Feb 3
Homework
The Fundamental Group Revisited. (52)
Connected Spaces and Subspaces. (23, 24)
Week #4: 
Feb 6 - 10
Homework
Components and Local Connectedness. (25)
Compact Spaces. (26, 27)
Week #5: 
Feb 13 - 17
Homework
Other Notions of Compactness. (28, 29)
Covering Spaces. (53)
Week #6: 
Feb 20 - 24
Homework
The Fundamental Group of the Circle. (54)
Retractions and Fixed Points. (55)
Week #7: 
Feb 27 - Mar 3
Homework
The Quotient Topology. (22)
Deformation Retracts and Homotopy Type. (58)

The Mid-Term Exam will be given as a take home exam during the seventh week of class.
Week #8: 
Mar 6 - 10
Homework
The Fundamental Group of Sn. (59)
Imbeddings of Manifolds. (36)

Administrative note: Friday 10 March is the Mid-Semester Break. Class will not meet. Additionally, March 13 -17 is Spring Break. Classes will resume on March 20.
Week #9: 
Mar 20 - 24
Homework
The Uryshonn Lemma. (33)
The Fundamental Group of Some Surfaces. (60)
Week #10: 
Mar 27 - 31
Homework
Direct Sums of Abelian Groups. (67)
Free Groups and Free Products. (68, 69)
Week #11: 
Apr 3 - 7
Homework
The Seifert-van Kampen Theorem. (70)


Administrative Note: Monday 3 November is the Course Drop and Pass/Fail grade option deadline. Grade of "W" is assigned after this date.
Week #12: 
Apr 10 - 14
Homework
The Seifert-van Kampen Theorem. (70)
The Fundamental Group of a Wedge of Circles. (71)
Week #13: 
Apr 17 - 21
Homework
Adjoining a Two-Cell. (72)
The Fundamental Groups of the Torus and the Dunce Cap. (73).

Administrative Note: May 21 is Spring Carnival. Class will not meet.
Week #14: 
Apr 24 - 28
Homework
Fundamenmtal Groups of Surfaces. (74)
Homology of SUrfaces. (75)
Cutting and pasting. (76)
Week #15: 
Mar 1 - 5
Homework
The Classification THeorem. (77)
Constructing Compact Surfaces. (78)
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Administrative note: Friday 5 May is the last day of class.
Friday 5 May is also the course drop deadline to receive a "W" grade.
Final Exam
The Final Exam will be given as a take home exam during the finals period.


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