go_gentle: (Default)
just a girl who's afraid of the dark ([personal profile] go_gentle) wrote2008-02-22 08:42 pm

(no subject)

DEAR FLIST:

I LOVE ALL OF YOU. ♥♥♥♥♥

No, really. I stumbled out of bed this morning, sent to algebra (which was better than last class because we've moved away from representation theory and characters, and on to rings, which I actually understand), came home, checked my email to find my inbox full of good thoughts and love and hugs. You made me cry, guys. It was exactly what I needed.

For the record, I don't actually hate algebra - I dislike character tables and representations, and I'm not very good at algebra overall, but mostly we get along. I just prefer my math to happen non-discretely. And, this may be a long shot, but if anyone had a recommendation for an algebra text that deals with representations and characters well, I'd be interested. I'm looking for an alternative view on the material in chapter 9 of Artin's Algebra. (Um, for clarification - when I say 'algebra,' I mean the material often referred to as 'abstract algebra' or 'modern algebra' - the kind with group theory and stuff.)

Basically, I'm a little overworked and under-rested, and it's much harder to put things in perspective in this state, which accounts for my emo last night (caused by a number of things, not just algebra).

I haven't had time to go through the love meme and leave comments for you all yet (see the above about overworked and sleep-depped), but I just wanted to tell you guys how much better you all made my day today. ♥
ext_901: (Default)

[identity profile] foreverdirt.livejournal.com 2008-02-23 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
*nodnods* Hmm, cool -- I think both the books I mentioned will be useful for that. I guess Dummit and Foote (http://www.amazon.com/Abstract-Algebra-David-S-Dummit/dp/0471433349) has a good set of methods in its section on representation theory, though I seem to remember it's lightish on illumination.