Ph.D.

QUALIFICATION EXAM
The Qualifying Exam is given twice every year in four main areas (Algebra, Analysis, Applied
Mathematics, Geometry-Topology).
Exam Topics (Subtopic A, Subtopic B, Subtopic C)
1) ALGEBRA (Algebraic Number Theory, Finite Field, Grups and Rings)
2) ANALYSIS (Functional Analysis, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis)
3) APPLIED MATHEMATICS (Numerical Analysis, Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial
Differential Equations)
4) GEOMETRY AND TOPOLOGY (Differential Geometry, Algebraic Topology, Algebraic
Geometry)
1) ALGEBRA
A: Algebraic Number Theory (MATH 615)
Algebraic numbers, Ring of integers of an algebraic number field, Integral bases, Norms and
traces, The discriminant, Factorization into irreducibles, Euclidean domains, Dedekind
domains, Prime factorization of ideals, Principal ideal rings, Lattices, Minkowski’s Theorem,
Geometric Representation of Algebraic Numbers, Class-group and class
number, Computational Methods, Fermat’s Last Theorem, Dirichlet’s Units Theorem,
Quadratic Residues.
• Reference 1 Algebraic Number Theory, Serge Lang.
• Reference 2 A Course in Computational algebraic Number Theory, Henri Cohen.

B: Finite Field (MATH 518)

Structure of finite fields, Characterization of finite dields, Roots of irreducible polynomials,

Traces, norms and bases, Roots of unity and cyclotomic polynomials, Representation of
elements of finite fields, Polynomials over finite fields, Order of polynomials and primitive
polynomials, Irreducible polynomials, Construction of irreducible polynomials, Factorization
of polynomials over finite fields, Exponential sums, Lineer recurring sequences, The minimal
polynomial, Theoretical applications of finite fields, Finite geometries, Combinatorics, Linear
modular systems, Pseudorandom sequences.

• Reference 1 Introduction to finite fields and their applications, Rudolf Lidl, Harald
Niederreiter.

C: Grups and Rings (MATH 501)

Groups, cyclic groups, finite groups, alternating groups, quotient groups, isomorphism
theorems, direct products of groups, free groups, free abelian groups, finitely generated abelian
groups, Group actions on sets, Sylow theorems. Rings, ring homomorphisms, ideals, quotient
rings, factorization in commutative rings, principal ideal domains, Euclidean domains, unique
factorization domains, polynomial rings, factorization in polynomial rings, power series.
• Reference 1 Algebra, Larry C. Grove.
• Reference 2 A First Course in Abstract Algebra, J. B. Fraleigh, Seventh Edition.
• Reference 3 Algebra, Thomas W. Hungerford.

2) ANALYSIS
A: Functional Analysis (MATH 509, MATH 510)
Metric Spaces, Normed spaces, Banach spaces. Linear operators, Spaces of bounded linear
operators. The uniform boundedness principle and the open mapping theorem, Bounded linear
functionals. Dual spaces. The Hahn-Banach extension theorem. Separation of convex sets.
Spaces of continuous functions, Ascoli’s theorem, Stone-Weierstrass’ theorem, Spaces of
Holder continuous functions and of k-times differentiable functions, Hilbert spaces, Compact
operators on a Hilbert space. Fredholm’s alternative. Spectrum and eigenfunctions of a
compact, self-adjoint operatör, Weak derivatives, Sobolev spaces, Embedding theorems.
• Reference 1 Introductory Functional Analysis with Applications. Erwin Kreyszig.
• Reference 2 Functional Analysis, Sobolev Spaces and Partial Differential Equations, Haim
Brezis.
• Reference 3 A Course in Functional Analysis, John B. Conway.

B: Real Analysis (MATH 505)

Set theory and real numbers, general measure and integration theory. Lebesgue measurable sets,
measurable functions, convergence theorems, Radon-Nikodym theorem, outer measure,
Carathe-odory extension theorem, product measures, Riesz representation, Baire Category,
Banach Spaces. Sihned measures. Improper integrals.

• Reference 1 Real Analysis, Halsey Royden and Patrick Fitzpatrick, Pearson; 4th edition.
• Reference 2 Real Analysis, Emmanuele DiBenedetto, Birkhauser, 2nd edition.
• Reference 3 Real analysis, G. Folland.

C: Complex Analysis (MATH 504)

Complex Numbers : Sums and Products, Basic Algebraic Properties, Vectors and Moduli.
Complex Numbers : Complex conjugates, Exponential Form, Products and Powers in
Exponential Form, Arguments of Products and Quotients, Roots of Complex Numbers. Regions
in the Complex Plane, Functions of Complex variable, Mappings by the Exponential Function.
Limits, Theorems on Limits, Limits involving the Point at infinity, Continuity. Derivatives,
Differentiation Formulas, Cauchy Riemann Equations, Sufficient Conditions for
Differentiability. Polar Coordinates, Analytic Functions, Harmonic Functions. Elementary
Functions: The exponential function, the logarithmic function, Complex Exponents.
Trigonometric Funtions, Hyperbolic functions, inverse trigonometric and hyperbolic functions,
Definite integrals. Contours, Contour integrals, Upper bounds for moduli of contour integrals,
Antiderivatives. Cauchy-Goursat theorem, simply connected domains, multiply connected
domains, cauchy integral formula. Series: convergence of sequences, convergence of series,
Taylor series, Laurent series. Series: Absolute and uniform convergence of power series,
continuity of sums of power series , continuity of sums of power series, integration and
differentiation of power series, uniqueness of series representation. Isolated singular points,
residues, Cauchy’s residue theorem, Residue at Infinity, zeros of analytic functions.
Applications of Residues.

• Reference 1 Complex variables and Applications, J. W. Brown, R. V. Churchill.

• Reference 2 Complex Anlaysis, S.Lang, Third Edition, 1993.
• Reference 3 Complex Analysis, by T. Gamelin, Springer-Verlag, New York.

3) APPLIED MATHEMATICS
A: Numerical Analysis (MATH 609)
Linear Spaces, Linear Operators on Normed Spaces, Approximation Theory, Best
Approximation, Finite Difference Method, Lax equivalence theorem, Sobolev Spaces, Weak
derivatives, Sobolev spaces, Periodic Sobolev spaces, Weak Formulations of Elliptic Boundary
Value Problems, The Lax-Milgram Lemma, The Galerkin Method and Its Variants, Finite
Element Analysis, Basics of the finite element method, Error estimates of finite element
interpolations Local interpolation error estimates, Global interpolation error estimates),
Convergence and error estimates.
• Reference 1 Theoretical Numerical Analysis, 3rd. Ed., Kendall Atkinson & Weimin Han,
Springer Science, 2000..
• Reference 2 Theory and Applications of Numerical Analysis, 2nd Ed., G.M.M. Phillips,
Peter J. Taylor, Elsevier Science & Technology Books, 1996..
• Reference 3 Numerical Mathematics, 2nd Ed., Alfio Quarteroni, Riccardo Sacco & Fausto
Saleri, Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2007

B: Ordinary Differential Equations (MATH 515, MATH 516)

Existence and Uniqueness for the solution of Initial Value Problems. Picard Successive
Approximation Method. Continuation of Solutions. Systems of Differential Equations.
Properties of System Solutions. Systems with Constant and Periodic Coefficients; Higher Order
Linear Differential Equations. Autonomous Systems. Systems of Nonlinear Equations.
Nonlinear Systems. Bifurcation. Boundary Value Problems. Linear Differential Operators.
Boundary Conditions, Existence of Solutions of Boundary Value Problems. Eigenvalues and
Eigenfunctions for Linear Differential Operators. Green’s Function of a Linear Differential
Operator.

• Reference 1 Ordinary differential equations, R. K. Miller, A. N. Michel, Academic Press,

1982.
• Reference 2 Ordinary Differential Equations, J. K. Hale, Krieger publishing company,
1980
• Reference 3 Theory of Ordinary Differential Equations, E. A. Coddington, N.
Levinson,Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 1987.
• Reference 4 Differential equations and dynamical systems, L. Perko, 3rd edition, Springer,
2000.
• Reference 5 Ordinary differential equations and dynamical systems, T. C. Sideris, Atlantis
Press, 2013

C: Partial Differential Equations (MATH 523,MATH 524)

First-order equations, characteristics. Classification of second-order equations. Laplace's

equation; potential theory. Green's function, maximum principles. The wave equation:
characteristics, general solution. The heat equation: use of integral transforms. The course
focuses on a class of concepts and techniques of functional analysis (e.g Sobolev spaces) for
the solution of linear and some nonlinear PDEs. The following concepts will also be
emphasized: weak derivatives, second order elliptic and parabolic equations and their weak
solutions, regularity of solutions., energy estimates, maximum principles, second order
hyperbolic equations.

• Reference 1 Partial Differential Equations, Fritz John.

• Reference 2 Elliptic Partial Differential Equations of Second Order, David Gilbarg and
Neil S. Trudinger.
• Reference 3 Lectures on Partial Differential Equations, Ivan Georgievich Petrovsky.
• Reference 4 Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction, Walter Strauss.
• Reference 5 Partial Differential Equations, Michael E. Taylor.

4) GEOMETRY AND TOPOLOGY

A: Differential Geometry (MATH 506)
Calculus of Euclidean maps. Parametrized Curves and Tangent Vector. Curvature, Normal and
Binormal Vector. Frenet-Serret Equations and Fundamental Theorem of Space Curves.
Surfaces and Parametrization. Tangent Vectors and Tangent Space. The First Fundamental
Form. Surface Area. Directional Derivatives. The Weingarten Map and The 2nd Fundamental
Form. Curvature and Gauss’ Theorem Egregium. Geodesics. Gauss-Bonnet Theorem. Curves
and surfaces. Plane curves. Geometry of hypersurfaces. Lengths and distances. Curvature.
Riemannian connection. Normal coordinates, Conjugate points, Isometric immersions. Metric
and geodesic completeness. Variations of the energy functional.
• Reference 1 A First Course in Geometric Topology and Differential Geometry, Ethan D.
Bloch, Modern Birkhäuser Classics, 1997.
• Reference 2 Elementary differential geometry, B. O’Neill, second ed., Elsevier/Academic
Press, Amsterdam, 2006.
• Reference 3 Differential geometry of curves and surfaces, M. P. do Carmo, PrenticeHall,
Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1976, Translated from the Portuguese.
• Reference 4 A First Course in Differential Geometry: Surfaces in Euclidean Space, Lyndon
Woodward and John Bolton, Cambridge University Press; 1st edition .
• Reference 5 Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces (Undergraduate Texts in
Mathematics) 1st ed. 2016 Edition, Kristopher Tapp, Springer.

B: Algebraic Topology (MATH 624)

Homology groups of a simplicial complex, Simplices, Homology groups, Relative homology,
Topological invariance of the homology groups, Simplicial approximations, The algebra of
subdivision, Relative homology and the Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms, The exact homology
sequence, The axioms for simplicial theory, Singular homology theory, The singular homology
groups, Acyclic models, Cohomology, Relative cohomology, Cohomology rings with surfaces,
Homology with coefficients, Tensor products, Homlogy with arbitrary coefficients,
Homological algebra, Torsion products, Tensor product of chain complexes.

• Reference 1 Elements of Algebraic Topology, J. R. Munkres, Addison-Wesley Publishing

Company, Inc.
• Reference 2 Algebraic Topology, C. R. F. Maunder, Cambridge University Press.
• Reference 3 Topology and Geometry, G. E Bredon, Springer-Verlag

C: Algebraic Geometry (MATH 622)

Guiding problems, Division algorithm and Gröbner bases, Affine varieties, Elimination,
Resultants, Irreducible varieties, Nullstellensatz, Primary decomposition, Projective geometry,
Projective elimination theory, Parametrizing linear subspaces, Hilbert polynomials and the
Bezout Theorem.

• Reference 1 Introduction to Algebraic Geometry, Brendan Hassett, Cambridge University

Press
• Reference 2 Using Algebraic Geometry, D. Cox, J. Little, D. O’Shea, Springer.
• Reference 3 Algebraic Geometry, J. Harris, springer-Verlag.