Bücher von Dale Husemoller

The book divides naturally into several parts according to the level of the material, the background required of the reader, and the style of presentation with respect to details of proofs. For example, the first part, to Chapter 6, is undergraduate in level, the second part requires a background in Galois theory and the third some complex analysis, while the last parts, from Chapter 12 on, are mostly at graduate level. A general outline ofmuch ofthe material can be found in Tate's colloquium lectures reproduced as an article in Inven- tiones [1974]. The first part grew out of Tate's 1961 Haverford Philips Lectures as an attempt to write something for publication c10sely related to the original Tate notes which were more or less taken from the tape recording of the lectures themselves. This inc1udes parts of the Introduction and the first six chapters The aim ofthis part is to prove, by elementary methods, the Mordell theorem on the finite generation of the rational points on elliptic curves defined over the rational numbers. In 1970 Tate teturned to Haverford to give again, in revised form, the originallectures of 1961 and to extend the material so that it would be suitable for publication. This led to a broader plan forthe book.

Based on several recent courses given to mathematical physics students, this volume is an introduction to bundle theory. A fundamental theme, emphasized in the book, centers around the gluing of local bundle data related to bundles into a global object.

Basic properties, homotopy classification, and characteristic classes of fibre bundles have become an essential part of graduate mathematical education for students in geometry and mathematical physics.