Course Syllabus

Jump to Today
  • Goals and Prerequisites: This is an introductory course in set theory. There's no presupposition that you've studied set theory before. The aim of this course is to learn the basics of set theory and to simultaneously enhance our ability to write formal proofs.

  • Textbooks: We're using the following textbooks by Hrbacek-Jech and Velleman. The Hrbacek-Jech textbook is an introductory set-theory textbook, while the Velleman book is designed to help you write proofs, and also has a bunch of worked out problems. 

Karel Hrbacek and Thomas Jech. Introduction to Set Theory, volume 220 of Monographs and Textbooks in Pure and Applied Mathematics. Dekker, New York, third edition, 1999.

Daniel J. Velleman. How to Prove It: A Structured Approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, second edition, 2006.

For copies of the first two chapters of these books which we will be using, see Files. The books are available at the bookstore and easily available via online booksellers.

  • Requirements: The requirements are four homework sets (50%), one midterm exam (20%), and one final exam (20%), and attendance (5%), and participation (5%). Attendance will be measured by a sign-in sheet and participation will be measured by the instructor's assessment of your participation in in-class problem sessions.

  • Homework and Exams: You may work in groups of 2-3 on the homework, but everyone must write up their own solutions, and you must clearly indicate with whom you worked on the first page of your homework. Homeworked should be turned in via canvas in the form of scanned pdfs of handwritten work. For the location of scanners on-campus, see here (and then click the 'locations' tab). There is no late homework (except in the usual exceptional health-related etc. circumstances, in which case you should just get in contact with the instructor). Below is the schedule for the homework and exam dates. These will be assigned roughly 2 weeks ahead of time, and you'll get a very clear study guide for the midterm and final two weeks ahead of time. 

      • Homework 1: Due Friday October 9 by 5pm.
      • Homework 2: Due Friday October 23 by 5pm.
      • Midterm Exam: In-class, Thursday November 5.
      • Homework 3: Due Friday November 20 by 5pm.
      • Homework 4: Due Friday December 4 by 5pm.
      • Final Exam: Thursday December 10, 8:00-10:00.

  • Schedule. For the schedule of the lectures, and the associated readings, see Schedule.

  • Other Resources: For worked-out problem sets, see course website for previous year.

  • Instructor Information: Sean Walsh, email: walsh108 at uci.edu, office: SST 703.

  • Office Hours: Tuesday 4:30-5:30 and by appointment.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due