Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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The field is one of the key objects you will learn about in abstract algebra. Fields generalize the real numbers and complex numbers. They are sets with two operations that come with all the features you could wish for: commutativity, inverses, identities, associativity, and more. They give you a lot of freedom to do mathematics similar to regular algebra. Today we motivate the definition of a field by looking at 6 different groups, give the formal definition, and talk about the characteristic of the field and the starting point for all fields - prime fields.

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We recommend the following textbooks:
Dummit & Foote, Abstract Algebra 3rd Edition
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Milne, Algebra Course Notes (available free online)
jmilne.org/math/CourseNotes/index.html

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Teaching​ ​Assistant:​ ​​ ​Liliana​ ​de​ ​Castro
Written​ ​&​ ​Directed​ ​by​ ​Michael​ ​Harrison
Produced​ ​by​ ​Kimberly​ ​Hatch​ ​Harrison

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