In the MSc Maths forum on Moodle the moderator posted the student numbers and if the students live in the UK or somewhere else. And I am the only student from Germany studying M820 and M823. There is another student living in Germany but studying two different courses. What a pity. I really hoped to find someone for a self help group in Germany.

It is also interesting that about 16% of the students are female. Wow I really thought that that figure would be higher ...

The contents of the box are:

• Units A1 - A4
• Assignment Book 1
• Study calendar (on A4 paper)
• Course Guide
• Stop Press
• Exercise Booklet I
• Handbook
• Computer Guide
• DVD
• Software
• TMA Form

The StudentHome says that another material delivery is scheduled for mid February. Also, I have to submit my TMAs on paper ... no eTMAs are allowed. :-/

The course is divided into 3 blocks of all in all 13 units, whereas Block A and B consist of 4 units each, whereas Block C consists of 5 units. The Blocks A and C are based on the idea of continuity (from the course M208), while Block B studies the properties of surfaces such as the Möbius band or a torus. Like, M381 only the handbook (but without annotations) is allowed in the exam.This means that I'll also work with flashcards in M338.

BTW, this is another course with shiny booklets and DVDs in this material dispatch. :o)

Again there are no shiny booklets, but a small booklet (about 100 pages) hold together from a ring binder. All postgraduate courses in maths (except M820) use a set book, i.e. a book which students have to purchase separatly in a book store, and so this booklet contains some further notes and additional exercises.

The contents of the box are:

• Course Notes (with 8 units)
• Solutions to Exercises
• Programme and Course News
• Study calendar (on A4 paper)
• Assignment Booklet
• Letter from course team chair
• TMA Form (only one; they changed this. Instead of sending all TMA Forms at the beginning they'll send a TMA Form with every returned TMA. Good idea!)
• M823 Index
• Specimen and solutions

As you might have noticed, there is no course handbook included, which I would be able to take into the exam. Fortunately the Programm and Course News says that I am allowed to take the set book in to the exam. :-)

The course is divided into 8 units, whereas nearly each unit consists of one chapter from the set book (Introduction to Analytic Number Theory from Tom M. Apostol):

• Unit 1: Historical Introduction and The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic
• Unit 2: Arithmetical Functions and Dirichlet Multiplication
• Unit 3: Averages of Arithmetical Functions
• Unit 4: Some Elementary Theorems on the Distribution of Prime Numbers
• Unit 5: Congruences
• Unit 6: Finite Abelian Groups and their Characters
• Unit 7: Dirichlet's Theorem on Primes in Arithmetical Progressions
• Unit 8: Quadratic Residues and the Quadratic Reciprocity Law

The book chapters 8, 10 - 14 are not covered in this course. Since the set book is also used in the course Analytic Number Theory II, I assume that the rest of the chapters will be covered in that subsequent course.

I already worked through the set book in October / November last year. It repeats some important facts from M381 the undergraduate number theory course, but also introduces new stuff, like the interconnectivity to group theory.

Then lets have a word about the assignments in this course. They've changed the assignment procedure from this year on. There are 4 TMAs in this course, but only the final TMA and the exam result will count towards the final course assessment. Also, I need to exceed at least 20% on at least two of the three earlier TMAs. Also, in TMA 4 we are asked to write a brief account (essay style) to show that we understood how the various results in number theory are interconnected.

By the way, on the course website also some units from M381 are downloadable, that is really nice for those who are new to the OU or did not study M381.

Yes! A course with shiny booklets and DVDs in this material dispatch. :o)

The contents of the box are:

• Unit IB1 - 4
• Assignment Book 1
• Study calendar (on A4 paper)
• Course Guide
• Frieze / Tilling Cards and Overlays (they look interesting probably used for visualising transformations)
• Stop Press (including a lot of Errata to correct ...)
• Video Notes
• Exercise Booklet I
• Handbook and Handbook Supplement (with results from proofs)
• Proofs and Strategies Booklet (should have had this last year ;) )
• Isometry Toolkit (double sided A4 paper with useful trigometry results)
• DVD
• Audio CD
• TMA Form

The StudentHome says that another material delivery is scheduled for March. Also, I have to submit my TMAs on paper ... no eTMAs are allowed. :-/

The course is divided into 4 blocks of 4 units, whereas Block 1 is the Introductory Block and then the following 12 units are divided into a Geometry stream and a Groups stream. So the remaining 3 blocks contains two units from each stream. In the Geometry stream we will learn how to construct, recognize and classify various geometric patterns, e.g. wallpaper patterns (2D) or crystals (3D). The Groups stream we will construct, recognize and classify special types of groups, e.g. the finite Abelian groups.

I may take the Handbook as well as the Handbook Supplement into the exam, but only restricted annotation is allowed, i.e. the annotation should complement the purpose of the text and hence large amounts of additional material is not allowed. This means that I'll also work with flashcards in M336, as I already did in M381.