5.4.2, due Nov 29

1)I'm not sure I really understood the RSA algorithm.

2)I'm amazed at all of the different types of cyptosystems. Are there people still trying to find new ways to encrypt messages?

5.4/5.4.1 due Nov 27

1) I had trouble understanding the Alberti code.

2) So I think it is interesting, my husband is majoring in computer science and he is going to do a senior project using cryptography. You can use it in the mathematics field as well as in the computer field.

5.3.2, due Noc 21

1) The proof to the Lucas-Lehmer test is really long and somewhat confusing.

2) For some reason I found this section very interesting. I think it is really cool that through Mersenne primes we have been able to find bigger and bigger primes.

5.3.1, due Nov 20

1) I biggest difficulty I had in understanding the reading was, Thrm 5.3.1.2 and Thrm 5.3.1.5 have really long proofs so I got lost a long the way and didn't quite fully understanding those proofs.

2) Interestingly Carmichael sounds really familiar and I can't figure out why. I thought that maybe I had heard of Camichael numbers before, but now I'm just thinking that I've heard it as someones last name...

5.3, due Nov 17

1) Thrm 5.3.6 was the most confusing-big O of a log...

2) The beginning of this section was nice. I could relate it back to previous sections in this book because the book had already stated Fermat's and Euler's thrm once before.

5.1/5.2 (part 1), due Nov 15

1) Corollary 5.2.1 seemed like it was the most confusing.

2) Cryptography sounds really interesting-the science of encoding and decoding secret messages.

Exam 2, due Nov 10

Which topics and theorems do you think are the most important out of those we have studied?
Fermat numbers,Mersenne numbers, Fibonacci numbers, Golden section,Binet formula, infinitely many prime of the form..., Pythagorean Triples,Thrm 3.2.1.1, Fermat's two-square thrm, finite simple continuous fraction, Dirichlet's thrm, Dirichlet character, Lemma 3.3.1, Dirichlet L-series,Thrm 3.3.4, Twin primes, Thrm 3.4.1, arithmetic functions, Thrm 3.6.2, Mobius function, and Mobius inversion formula

What kinds of questions do you expect to see on the exam?
I expect to see some proofs that use some of the things listed above. There may be a questions asking me to compute a certain finite simple continuous fraction, or compute a Mobius function.

What do you need to work on understanding better before the exam? Come up with a mathematical question you would like to see answered or a problem you would like to see worked out in class on Friday.
I need to work on understanding things concerning anything having Dirichlet. I would like to see problem 3.20 from the book done.

Are there topics you are especially interested in studying during the rest of the semester? What are they?
I like things having to do with prime, so I would like to see what other things involve primes.

4.2 (part 2), due Nov 8

1) I was hard for me to follow the proof of 4.2.2.

2) It is interesting how divergence keeps coming up and being used.

4.1&4.2 (part 1), due Nov 3

1) I didn't understand the use of the A_1 and A_2.

2) It was easier to understand 4.2 because it talked about things I have seen before like binomial coefficients and the binomial formula.