Bücher der Reihe London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series

The purpose of this unique book is to establish purely algebraic foundations for the development of certain parts of topology. Some topologists seek to understand geometric properties of solutions to finite systems of equations or inequalities and configurations which in some sense actually occur in the real world. Others study spaces constructed more abstractly using infinite limit processes. Their goal is to determine just how similar or different these abstract spaces are from those which are finitely described. However, as topology is usually taught, even the first, more concrete type of problem is approached using the language and methods of the second type. Professor Brumfiel's thesis is that this is unnecessary and, in fact, misleading philosophically. He develops a type of algebra, partially ordered rings, in which it makes sense to talk about solutions of equations and inequalities and to compare geometrically the resulting spaces. The importance of this approach is primarily that it clarifies the sort of geometrical questions one wants to ask and answer about those spaces which might have physical significance.

This volume consists of the proceedings of a conference held at the University College of North Wales (Bangor) in July of 1979. It assembles research papers which reflect diverse currents in low-dimensional topology. The topology of 3-manifolds, hyperbolic geometry and knot theory emerge as major themes.

The main aim of this book is to introduce the reader to the concept of comparison algebra, defined as a type of C*-algebra of singular integral operators. The first part of the book develops the necessary elements of the spectral theory of differential operators as well as the basic properties of elliptic second order differential operators. The author then introduces comparison algebras and describes their theory in L2-spaces and L2-Soboler spaces, and in particular their importance in solving functional analytic problems involving differential operators. The book is based on lectures given in Sweden and the USA.

This is the second edition of Professor Lounesto's unique introduction to Clifford algebras and spinors. The author has added new material and exercises. This book will be of interest to physicists as well as mathematicians and gives the first comprehensive survey of recent research on Clifford algebras.

This volume is an outgrowth of the LMS Durham Symposium on L-functions, held in July 1989. The symposium consisted of several short courses, aimed at presenting rigorous but non-technical expositions of the latest research areas, and a number of individual lectures on specific topics.

This book considers the current state of knowledge in the geometric and algebraic aspects of two-dimensional homotopy theory.

The subject of this book lies on the boundary between probability theory and the theory of function spaces. Here Professor Braverman investigates independent random variables in rearrangement invariant (r.i.) spaces. The significant feature of r.i. spaces is that the norm of an element depends on its distribution only, and this property allows the results and methods associated with r.i. spaces to be applied to problems in probability theory. On the other hand, probabilistic methods can also prove useful in the study of r.i. spaces. In this book new techniques are used and a number of interesting results are given. Most of the results are due to the author but have never before been available in English. Here they are all presented together in a volume that will be essential reading for all serious researchers in this area.

These notes give a self-contained treatment of the theory of o-minimal structures from a geometric and topological viewpoint, assuming only rudimentary algebra and analysis. This book should be of interest to model theorists, analytic geometers and topologists.

Integral closure has played a role in number theory and algebraic geometry since the nineteenth century, but a modern formulation of the concept for ideals perhaps began with the work of Krull and Zariski in the 1930s. It has developed into a tool for the analysis of many algebraic and geometric problems. This book collects together the central notions of integral closure and presents a unified treatment. Techniques and topics covered include: behavior of the Noetherian property under integral closure, analytically unramified rings, the conductor, field separability, valuations, Rees algebras, Rees valuations, reductions, multiplicity, mixed multiplicity, joint reductions, the Briancon-Skoda theorem, Zariski's theory of integrally closed ideals in two-dimensional regular local rings, computational aspects, adjoints of ideals and normal homomorphisms. With many worked examples and exercises, this book will provide graduate students and researchers in commutative algebra or ring theory with an approachable introduction leading into the current literature.

Finite groups of Lie type encompass most of the finite simple groups. Their representations and characters have been studied intensively for half a century, though some key problems remain unsolved. This is the first comprehensive treatment of the representation theory of finite groups of Lie type over a field of the defining prime characteristic. As a subtheme, the relationship between ordinary and modular representations is explored, in the context of Deligne-Lusztig characters. One goal has been to make the subject more accessible to those working in neighbouring parts of group theory, number theory, and topology. Core material is treated in detail, but the later chapters emphasize informal exposition accompanied by examples and precise references.

Synthetic Differential Geometry is a method of reasoning in differential geometry and calculus, where use of nilpotent elements allows the replacement of the limit processes of calculus by purely algebraic notions. In this 2006 second edition of Kock's classical text, many notes have been included commenting on new developments.

The Navier-Stokes equations were firmly established in the 19th Century as the system of nonlinear partial differential equations which describe the motion of most commonly occurring fluids in air and water, and since that time exact solutions have been sought by scientists. Collectively these solutions allow a clear insight into the behavior of fluids, providing a vehicle for novel mathematical methods and a useful check for computations in fluid dynamics, a field in which theoretical research is now dominated by computational methods. This 2006 book draws together exact solutions from widely differing sources and presents them in a coherent manner, in part by classifying solutions via their temporal and geometric constraints. It will prove to be a valuable resource to all who have an interest in the subject of fluid mechanics, and in particular to those who are learning or teaching the subject at the senior undergraduate and graduate levels.

Symmetric designs are an important class of combinatorial structures which arose first in the statistics and are now especially important in the study of finite geometries. This book presents some of the algebraic techniques that have been brought to bear on the question of existence, construction and symmetry of symmetric designs - including methods inspired by the algebraic theory of coding and by the representation theory of finite groups - and includes many results. Rich in examples and containing over 100 problems, the text also provides an introduction to many of the modern algebraic approaches used, through six lengthy appendices and supplementary problems. The book will be of interest to both combinatorialists and algebraists, and could be used as a course text for a graduate course.

The isomorphism problem of ergodic theory has been extensively studied since Kolmogorov's introduction of entropy into the subject and especially since Ornstein's solution for Bernoulli processes. Much of this research has been in the abstract measure-theoretic setting of pure ergodic theory. However, there has been growing interest in isomorphisms of a more restrictive and perhaps more realistic nature which recognize and respect the state structure of processes in various ways. These notes give an account of some recent developments in this direction. A special feature is the frequent use of the information function as an invariant in a variety of special isomorphism problems. Lecturers and postgraduates in mathematics and research workers in communication engineering will find this book of use and interest.

Because of their significance in physics and chemistry, representation of Lie groups has been an area of intensive study by physicists and chemists, as well as mathematicians. This introduction is designed for graduate students who have some knowledge of finite groups and general topology, but is otherwise self-contained. The author gives direct and concise proofs of all results yet avoids the heavy machinery of functional analysis. Moreover, representative examples are treated in some detail.

This volume will give a systematic exposition of known results for free actions by finite groups on S. The text begins with preliminary material on Seifert manifolds and group classification. This is followed by sections dealing with related topics including free bZe/2 and bZe/3 actions on lens/prism manifolds, the reduction theorem and tangential structure.

This book's aim is to make accessible techniques for studying Whitehead groups of finite groups, as well as a variety of related topics such as induction theory and p-adic logarithms. The author has included a lengthy introduction to set the scene for non-specialists who want an overview of the field, its history and its applications. The rest of the book consists of three parts: general theory, group rings of p-groups and general finite groups. The book will be welcomed by specialists in K- and L-theory and by algebraists in general as a state-of-the art survey of the area.

With the classification of the finite simple groups complete, much work has gone into the study of maximal subgroups of almost simple groups. In this volume the authors investigate the maximal subgroups of the finite classical groups and present research into these groups as well as proving many new results. In particular, the authors develop a unified treatment of the theory of the 'geometric subgroups' of the classical groups, introduced by Aschbacher, and they answer the questions of maximality and conjugacy and obtain the precise shapes of these groups. Both authors are experts in the field and the book will be of considerable value not only to group theorists, but also to combinatorialists and geometers interested in these techniques and results. Graduate students will find it a very readable introduction to the topic and it will bring them to the very forefront of research in group theory.

These two volumes provide a self-contained account of research on algebraic cycles and motives. Twenty-two contributions from leading figures survey the key research strands, including: Abel-Jacobi/regulator maps and normal functions; Voevodsky's triangulated category of mixed motives; conjectures of Bloch-Beilinson and Murre on filtrations on Chow groups.

These two volumes provide a self-contained account of research on algebraic cycles and motives. Twenty-two contributions from leading figures survey the key research strands, including: Abel-Jacobi/regulator maps and normal functions; Voevodsky's triangulated category of mixed motives; conjectures of Bloch-Beilinson and Murre on filtrations on Chow groups.

The authors present a comprehensive analysis of isotropic spherical random fields, with a view towards applications in cosmology. Any mathematician or statistician interested in these applications, especially the booming area of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data analysis, will find the mathematical foundation they need in this book.

This book contains selected papers from the international conference 'Groups - St Andrews 1981', held at the University of St Andrews in July/August 1981. Its contents reflect the main topics of the conference: combinatorial group theory; infinite groups; general groups, finite or infinite; computational group theory.

This comprehensive volume highlights some of the most current results about ranks of elliptic curves, statistical properties of families of elliptic curves and their associated L-functions and the emerging uses of random matrix theory in this field. This is the only book to give an in-depth treatment of this subject.

Elliptic cohomology is a very active field of mathematics, with connections to algebraic topology, theoretical physics, number theory and algebraic geometry. This volume represents these connections, with topics including equivariant complex elliptic cohomology, the physics of M-theory, modular characteristics of vertex operator algebras, and higher chromatic analogues of elliptic cohomology.

Containing the latest research, this volume is essential for readers looking for a snapshot of current progress in polynomials and number theory. Contributions by leading experts in the field include recent work on the Schur-Siegel-Smyth trace problem, Mahler measure, the merit factor problem, Barker sequences, and K3-surfaces.

It is natural to approach algebraic geometry by highlighting the way it connects algebra and analysis. Serre's GAGA theorem encapsulates this connection and provides the unifying theme for this book, which develops the modern machinery of algebraic geometry needed to give a proof, at a level accessible to undergraduates throughout.

This set of notes, for graduate students who are specializing in algebraic topology, adopts a novel approach to the teaching of the subject. It begins with a survey of the most beneficial areas for study, with recommendations regarding the best written accounts of each topic. Because a number of the sources are rather inaccessible to students, the second part of the book comprises a collection of some of these classic expositions, from journals, lecture notes, theses and conference proceedings. They are connected by short explanatory passages written by Professor Adams, whose own contributions to this branch of mathematics are represented in the reprinted articles.

This introduction to commutative algebra gives an account of some general properties of rings and modules, with their applications to number theory and geometry. It assumes only that the reader has completed an undergraduate algebra course. The fresh approach and simplicity of proof enable a large amount of material to be covered; exercises and examples are included throughout the notes.

Some of the results on automatic continuity of intertwining operators and homomorphisms that were obtained between 1960 and 1973 are here collected together to provide a detailed discussion of the subject. The book will be appreciated by graduate students of functional analysis who already have a good foundation in this and in the theory of Banach algebras.

These notes present an investigation of a condition similar to Euclid's parallel axiom for subsets of finite sets. The background material to the theory of parallelisms is introduced and the author then describes the links this theory has with other topics from the whole range of combinatorial theory and permutation groups. These include network flows, perfect codes, Latin squares, block designs and multiply-transitive permutation groups, and long and detailed appendices are provided to serve as introductions to these various subjects. Many of the results are published for the first time.