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.

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.

Algebraic geometry is, essentially, the study of the solution of equations and occupies a central position in pure mathematics. This short and readable introduction to algebraic geometry will be ideal for all undergraduate mathematicians coming to the subject for the first time. With the minimum of prerequisites, Dr Reid introduces the reader to the basic concepts of algebraic geometry including: plane conics, cubics and the group law, affine and projective varieties, and non-singularity and dimension. He is at pains to stress the connections the subject has with commutative algebra as well as its relation to topology, differential geometry, and number theory. The book arises from an undergraduate course given at the University of Warwick and contains numerous examples and exercises illustrating the theory.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

The book's main concern is automorphisms of Riemann surfaces, giving a foundational treatment from the point of view of Galois coverings, and treating the problem of the largest automorphism group for a Riemann surface of a given genus. In addition, the extent to which fixed points of automorphisms are generalized Weierstrass points is considered. The extremely useful inequality of Castelnuovo- Severi is also treated. While the methods are elementary, much of the material does not appear in the current texts on Riemann surfaces, algebraic curves. The book is accessible to a reader who has had an introductory course on the theory of Riemann surfaces or algebraic curves.

Plane Algebraic Curves is a classroom-tested textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in mathematics. The book introduces the contemporary notions of algebraic varieties, morphisms of varieties, and adeles to the classical subject of plane curves over algebraically closed fields. By restricting the rigorous development of these notions to a traditional context the book makes its subject accessible without extensive algebraic prerequisites. Once the reader's intuition for plane curves has evolved, there is a discussion of how these objects can be generalized to higher dimensional settings. These features, as well as a proof of the Riemann-Roch Theorem based on a combination of geometric and algebraic considerations, make the book a good foundation for more specialized study in algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and algebraic function fields. Plane Algebraic Curves is suitable for readers with a variety of backgrounds and interests. The book begins with a chapter outlining prerequisites, and contains informal discussions giving an overview of its material and relating it to non-algebraic topics which would be familiar to the general reader. There is an explanation of why the algebraic genus of a hyperelliptic curve agrees with its geometric genus as a compact Riemann surface, as well as a thorough description of how the classically important elliptic curves can be described in various normal forms. The book concludes with a bibliography which students can incorporate into their further studies. Book jacket.