Math 254B: Number Theory
Spring, 2017, TuTh 2:00-3:30, 72 Evans
Instructor: Xinyi Yuan
Email: yxy@math.berkeley.edu
Office hours: 3:40-4:40 Tu & 1:00-2:00 Th, 999 Evans
Textbook
The textbook is Milne's book Elliptic Curves. Another useful reference is Silverman's book The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites include basic theory of global fields and local fields as in 254A, and basic algebraic geometry as in Fulton's book Algebraic Curves.
For algebraic geometry, Chapter 1 of Hartshorne's book Algebraic Geometry
is almost sufficient, and Chapters 1-2 of Silverman's book mentioned above may be helpful for beginners.
Grade
There will be no homework or midterm for this course. The grade of this course is solely based on the results of the final exam.
Suggested Homework
For practice, try the exercises in Silverman's book. The following are some further suggested homework problems.