uwloo

PMATH 347Groups and Rings

Units
0.50
Faculty
Mathematics
Subject
Pure Mathematics

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 6 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Groups, subgroups, homomorphisms and quotient groups, isomorphism theorems, group actions, Cayley and Lagrange theorems, permutation groups, Sylow theorems, and the fundamental theorem of finite abelian groups. Elementary properties of rings, subrings, ideals, homomorphisms and quotients, isomorphism theorems, and polynomial rings.

Prerequisites

  • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
    • MATH235 - Linear Algebra 2 for Honours Mathematics (0.50)
    • MATH245 - Linear Algebra 2 (Advanced Level) (0.50)

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001624384 / 96MWF 13:30–14:20

Resources

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Reviewed on UW Flow

90% liked it51% easy87% useful

From 103 ratings and 32 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Algebra is nifty. Groups are cool. Rings are less cool, but they're worth knowing. The endless stuff on UFD's, PID's and the other associated subtypes of rings gets kind of annoying at the end, but it's worth looking at.

    Mar 2014 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The first PMATH course I took. The content is really interesting, I love groups and modules. It is not a super hard course. Our offering has 10 Weekly homework, most of which are fair and 10 weekly quizzes, which were worth 50% of the mark and were ridiculously easy. I would recommend anyone who likes math to take it.

    Aug 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I loved this class. It's not too difficult and seems like a good basis for a lot abstract algebra. Covers a lot of interesting concepts and how they fit into the bigger picture of math as a whole. It's split roughly half about group theory and half about ring theory. There were 5 decently easy assignment, 5 easy quizzes, and 1 fair test for each half.

    Apr 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I found this course (taught by Yu-Ru Liu) the easiest of the math courses I was taking. There was one short assignment (~3 questions) and quiz (~10 T/F questions) per week, which was a pretty low workload, and only two tests in total, which were also short (2 pages double-sided). There was no final exam.

    Nov 2022 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • My favourite course thus far in undergrad. Coming from MATH235, this was a challenge but not as hard as I thought it'd be.

    Nov 2016 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

235 posts and comments in 176 threads mention PMATH 347, August 2013 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

CO331 vs. AMath 250 for Co-op Term? 9 points, 6 comments

“Hi, I need to take an online course during my co-op term and can’t decide between CO331 (Coding Theory) and AMath 250 (Intro to Differential Equations). …”

u/amsyed10385: “… The course itself is straightforward if you already learned abstract algebra (any of PMATH 347/348/MATH 145). …”

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CO course comparison 3 points, 7 comments

“Need another CO course to take next term. Options for me are: CO 444 Algebraic Graph Theory CO 481 Quantum Info CO 463 Convex Optimization CO 353 Discrete Optimization Anyone who has taken one or …”

u/batson2002: “… CO444 was super fun if you like graph theory and group theory (like PMATH347) or even just linear algebra. Can't comment on CO353. …”

u/amsyed10385: “thanks, do you know if CO 481 is the same contents across different professors? How hard is CO 444 compared to PMATH 347?”

u/batson2002: “… co444 combines pmath347 with graph theory. there’s a lot of linear algebra and talk of symmetric groups but if you’re good with that and graph theory it’s not too bad. …”

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Spring 2024

Lin alg heavy courses 13 points, 10 comments

“I love math235 and I'm sad that there's no Lin Alg 3. What are some courses that use a lot of Lin alg? Would CS484 or CS480 fit this? CS475 isn't available next term, and I've already taken CS370”

u/Osteospermum: “… PMATH 347 and 348 cover abstract algebra if you liked the theorems and vector spaces. …”

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PMATH 347 After MATH 235 7 points, 4 comments

u/amsyed10385: “… Anyone taken PMATH 347 with her after MATH 235 before who can share their experience? I’m also wondering about the workload of MATH 235 vs PMATH 347 vs PMATH 336 (non-major version of PMATH 347). …”

u/AHpache182: “PMATH 347 with Yu-Ru is at an outlier level of ease compared to other profs. I also took 347 after 235 with McKinnon; it was brutal. Regardless, PMATH 347 is the hardest course I've taken to date (on par with CO 342). …”

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Winter 2024

don’t know what to major in 27 points, 24 comments

“i’m currently in 1b honours math and i dont know what i should major in. here’s my current brainwave - pure math will leave me jobless - i’m not very interested in finance - teaching would lock me …”

u/sara0107: “You could try PMATH 347 after taking 235/245 to see if you'd be interested in that. Wouldn't necessarily leave you jobless, you could go to grad school and try for academia, and PMATH people can pivot to data science or finance”

u/Solid_Phrase: “actually you don't need 235/245 to take pmath347. or at least the content requirements are irrelevant for the most part. anyone who can write proofs from math135/145 can handle it well.”

u/kermit_9_11: “I would not recommend the override from 13x to pmath 347. The maturity gap might be a tad too much, and that will affect how they see the subject. 14x would be perfectly fine tho,”

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Interesting pmath/co courses? 3 points, 2 comments

“What are some particularly interesting pmath/co courses? I don’t have space to take many of them, but wish to maximize my utility. One course I know I want to take is pmath 351. Any other suggestions?”

u/Alone_Letterhead2671: “There're two routes you can take with 351 in hand: 1. PMATH Analysis route: PMATH 450, 451, 453 which are pretty popular. …”

u/Stranger_Natural: “… Also, 351 offerings typically teach some level of topology, and if you take pmath 347, you can take algebraic topology (pmath 467). The new topology course (pmath 367, I think it’s being offered starting next fall or something?) might also be interesting to you. …”

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Fall 2023

Advice for CS major who doesn’t like CS? 30 points, 7 comments

“I’m a 4A CS major who will graduate in 2025 on my current plan, but I haven’t found a job the past two years and throughout this degree I found I don’t even like CS that much. …”

u/Ok_Meeting_2592: “… \- pmath 352: Also offered in the spring and winter \- pmath 347: Offered Spring and Fall \- pmath 348: Offered Fall and Winter \- pmath 365: Offered Winter (take it next term!) \- pmath 450: Offered Winter \- 3 more 4xx pmath courses, depending on your interests. …”

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About cryptography co-ops! 2 points, 2 comments

u/Aggravating_Dingo_74: “… Also, I would like to know how to prepare for a research term in cryptography, I have taken PMATH 347 (groups and rings) and next term, I plan to take PMATH 464 (algebraic geometry) and PMATH 441 (algebraic number theory) the term following that. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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