In this book, Miranda takes the approach that algebraic curves are best encountered for the first time over the complex numbers, where the reader's classical intuition about surfaces, integration, and other concepts can be brought into play. Therefore, many examples of algebraic curves are presented in the first chapters. In this way, the book begins as a primer on Riemann surfaces, with complex charts and meromorphic functions taking centre stage. But the main examples come fromprojective curves, and slowly but surely the text moves toward the algebraic category. Proofs of the Riemann-Roch and Serre Dualtiy Theorems are presented in an algebraic manner, via an adaptation of the adelic proof, expressed completely in terms of solving a Mittag-Leffler problem. Sheaves andcohomology are introduced as a unifying device in the later chapters, so that their utility and naturalness are immediately obvious. Requiring a background of one term of complex variable theory and a year of abstract algebra, this is an excellent graduate textbook for a second-term course in complex variables or a year-long course in algebraic geometry.

Classroom-tested and featuring over 100 exercises, this text introduces the key algebraic geometry field of Hurwitz theory.

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.

This book gives an introduction to modern geometry. Starting from an elementary level, the author develops deep geometrical concepts that play an important role in contemporary theoretical physics, presenting various techniques and viewpoints along the way. This second edition contains two additional, more advanced geometric techniques: the modern language and modern view of Algebraic Geometry and Mirror Symmetry.

This volume is an introduction to the theory of Compact Riemann Surfaces and algebraic curves. It gives a concise account of the elementary aspects of different viewpoints in curve theory. Foundational results on divisors and compact Riemann surfaces are also stated and proved.

The space of all Riemann surfaces (the so-called moduli space) plays an important role in algebraic geometry and its applications to quantum field theory. This book focuses on the study of topological properties of this space and of similar moduli spaces, such as the space of real algebraic curves, and the space of mappings.

This volume offers a well-structured overview of existent computational approaches to Riemann surfaces and those currently in development. The authors of the contributions represent the groups providing publically available numerical codes in this field. Thus this volume illustrates which software tools are available and how they can be used in practice. In addition examples for solutions to partial differential equations and in surface theory are presented. The intended audience of this book is twofold. It can be used as a textbook for a graduate course in numerics of Riemann surfaces, in which case the standard undergraduate background, i.e., calculus and linear algebra, is required. In particular, no knowledge of the theory of Riemann surfaces is expected; the necessary background in this theory is contained in the Introduction chapter. At the same time, this book is also intended for specialists in geometry and mathematical physics applying the theory of Riemann surfaces in their research. It is the first book on numerics of Riemann surfaces that reflects the progress made in this field during the last decade, and it contains original results. There are a growing number of applications that involve the evaluation of concrete characteristics of models analytically described in terms of Riemann surfaces. Many problem settings and computations in this volume are motivated by such concrete applications in geometry and mathematical physics.

This book offers a concise yet thorough introduction to the notion of moduli spaces of complex algebraic curves. Over the last few decades, this notion has become central not only in algebraic geometry, but in mathematical physics, including string theory, as well. The book begins by studying individual smooth algebraic curves, including the most beautiful ones, before addressing families of curves. Studying families of algebraic curves often proves to be more efficient than studying individual curves: these families and their total spaces can still be smooth, even if there are singular curves among their members. A major discovery of the 20th century, attributed to P. Deligne and D. Mumford, was that curves with only mild singularities form smooth compact moduli spaces. An unexpected byproduct of this discovery was the realization that the analysis of more complex curve singularities is not a necessary step in understanding the geometry of the moduli spaces. The book does not use the sophisticated machinery of modern algebraic geometry, and most classical objects related to curves – such as Jacobian, space of holomorphic differentials, the Riemann-Roch theorem, and Weierstrass points – are treated at a basic level that does not require a profound command of algebraic geometry, but which is sufficient for extending them to vector bundles and other geometric objects associated to moduli spaces. Nevertheless, it offers clear information on the construction of the moduli spaces, and provides readers with tools for practical operations with this notion. Based on several lecture courses given by the authors at the Independent University of Moscow and Higher School of Economics, the book also includes a wealth of problems, making it suitable not only for individual research, but also as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate coursework

This monograph covers symmetries of compact Riemann surfaces. It examines the number of conjugacy classes of symmetries, the numbers of ovals of symmetries and the symmetry types of Riemann surfaces.

Exact solutions to Einstein’s equations have been useful for the understanding of general relativity in many respects. They have led to such physical concepts as black holes and event horizons, and helped to visualize interesting features of the theory. This volume studies the solutions to the Ernst equation associated to Riemann surfaces in detail. In addition, the book discusses the physical and mathematical aspects of this class analytically as well as numerically.