Study Mathematics - Photo: RPTU
Summer Semester 2026

Plane Algebraic Curves

Andreas Gathmann and Diego Antonio Robayo Bargans

News

Any news will be sent through the News tab of the OLAT course. You can configure OLAT so that these messages will also be sent to you by e-mail.

Dates and Times

  • Lecture: Tue 10:15-11:45 (48-538), starting April 13
  • Example class: Thu 12:15-13:45 (48-538), biweekly starting April 30
  • Holidays: May 14 (Himmelfahrt), May 25 (Pfingstmontag)
  • Substitute dates: Thu May 21 instead of May 14 for the example class

Homework assignments

Homework problems will be assigned biweekly on Tuesdays for the class, starting on April 21. They can be downloaded below and are due on Tuesdays one week later (at 10:15). You can put your solutions in Diego's mailbox next to 48-210 or upload them as a PDF file in the Submissions tab of the OLAT course. You can submit them in groups of up to 3 students. Of course, in this case everyone should have their fair share both in finding and writing down the solutions; it is expected that everyone can explain their solutions on the blackboard in the example sessions. If you submit your solutions online as a group, only one of you should upload them and indicate the names of all participants on the solution.

Class Notes

This class is based on the notes from my SS 2023 class. There might be small changes however, and I will update the notes correspondingly and make them available for download below as the semester progresses. This will take some time however, so do not count on the updated notes being available right after the lecture, or on time for the homework assignments. But don't worry, you will be fine just using the old notes as they are.

Video recordings of the class are available on the page of the class notes.

Credits

You will get a certificate for this class if you attend the example classes regularly and score at least 1 out of 4 points in at least 70% of the homework problems.

Literature

There is no need to use any further literature besides the notes above. However, it can sometimes be helpful for the understanding of the material to read about it somewhere else in other words. If you want to have a look at some books for this reason, here is a small selection for the beginning:

  • W. Fulton: Algebraic Curves (2008)
  • E. Kunz: Introduction to Plane Algebraic Curves, Birkhäuser (2005)
  • F. Kirwan: Complex Algebraic Curves, Cambridge University Press (1995)

Questions?

If you have any questions – about the organization of the course, the lecture, the homework problems or whatever – do not hesitate to contact us! You can write an e-mail or in the forum, ask Diego (bargans@rptu.de, 48-518), talk to me after the lecture or just come at any time to my office (andreas@rptu.de, 48-517).