An accessible introduction to plane algebraic curves that also serves as a natural entry point to algebraic geometry.

An accessible introduction to the plane algebraic curves that also serves as a natural entry point to algebraic geometry. This book can be used for an undergraduate course, or as a companion to algebraic geometry at graduate level.

The theory relating algebraic curves and Riemann surfaces exhibits the unity of mathematics: topology, complex analysis, algebra and geometry all interact in a deep way. This textbook offers an elementary introduction to this beautiful theory for an undergraduate audience. At the heart of the subject is the theory of elliptic functions and elliptic curves. A complex torus (or “donut”) is both an abelian group and a Riemann surface. It is obtained by identifying points on the complex plane. At the same time, it can be viewed as a complex algebraic curve, with addition of points given by a geometric “chord-and-tangent” method. This book carefully develops all of the tools necessary to make sense of this isomorphism. The exposition is kept as elementary as possible and frequently draws on familiar notions in calculus and algebra to motivate new concepts. Based on a capstone course given to senior undergraduates, this book is intended as a textbook for courses at this level and includes a large number of class-tested exercises. The prerequisites for using the book are familiarity with abstract algebra, calculus and analysis, as covered in standard undergraduate courses.

Challenge: Can you find all the integers a, b, c satisfying 2a2+3b2=5c2? Looks simple, and there are in fact a number of easy solutions. But most of them turn out to be anything but obvious! There are infinitely many possibilities, and as any computer will tell you, each of a, b, c will usually be large. So the challenge remains … Find all integers a a, b, c satisfying 2a2+3b2=5c2 A major advance in number theory means this book can give an easy answer to this and countless similar questions. The idea behind the approach is transforming a degree-two equation in integer variables a, b, c into a plane curve defined by a polynomial. Working with the curve makes obtaining solutions far easier, and the geometric solutions then get translated back into integers. This method morphs hard problems into routine ones and typically requires no more than high school math. (The complete solution to 2a2+3b2=5c2 is included in the book.) In addition to equations of degree two, the book addresses degree-three equations—a branch of number theory that is today something of a cottage industry, and these problems translate into “elliptic curves”. This important part of the book includes many pictures along with the exposition, making the material meaningful and easy to grasp. This book will fit nicely into an introductory course on number theory. In addition, the many solved examples, illustrations, and exercises make self-studying the book an option for students, thus becoming a natural candidate for a capstone course.

Linear Algebra Problem Book can be either the main course or the dessert for someone who needs linear algebraand today that means every user of mathematics. It can be used as the basis of either an official course or a program of private study. If used as a course, the book can stand by itself, or if so desired, it can be stirred in with a standard linear algebra course as the seasoning that provides the interest, the challenge, and the motivation that is needed by experienced scholars as much as by beginning students. The best way to learn is to do, and the purpose of this book is to get the reader to DO linear algebra. The approach is Socratic: first ask a question, then give a hint (if necessary), then, finally, for security and completeness, provide the detailed answer.

Insightful overview of many kinds of algebraic structures that are ubiquitous in mathematics. For researchers at graduate level and beyond.

MAA guides series numbering on title page appears as # 49. It should read # 9.

The book presents the state of the art and results and also includes articles pointing to future developments. Most of the articles center around the theme of linear partial differential equations. Major aspects are fast solvers in elastoplasticity, symbolic analysis for boundary problems, symbolic treatment of operators, computer algebra, and finite element methods, a symbolic approach to finite difference schemes, cylindrical algebraic decomposition and local Fourier analysis, and white noise analysis for stochastic partial differential equations. Further numerical-symbolic topics range from applied and computational geometry to computer algebra methods used for total variation energy minimization.

From the very beginning, algebraic topology has developed under the influ­ ence of the problems posed by trying to understand the topological properties of complex algebraic varieties (e.g., the pioneering work by Poincare and Lefschetz). Especially in the work of Lefschetz [Lf2], the idea is made explicit that singularities are important in the study of the topology even in the case of smooth varieties. What is known nowadays about the topology of smooth and singular vari­ eties is quite impressive. The many existing results may be roughly divided into two classes as follows: (i) very general results or theories, like stratified Morse theory and (mixed) Hodge theory, see, for instance, Goresky-MacPherson [GM], Deligne [Del], and Steenbrink [S6]; and (ii) specific topics of great subtlety and beauty, like the study of the funda­ mental group of the complement in [p>2 of a singular plane curve initiated by Zariski or Griffiths' theory relating the rational differential forms to the Hodge filtration on the middle cohomology group of a smooth projec tive hypersurface. The aim of this book is precisely to introduce the reader to some topics in this latter class. Most of the results to be discussed, as well as the related notions, are at least two decades old, and specialists use them intensively and freely in their work. Nevertheless, it is impossible to find an adequate intro duction to this subject, which gives a good feeling for its relations with other parts of algebraic geometry and topology.