Pseudo-reductive groups arise naturally in the study of general smooth linear algebraic groups over non-perfect fields and have many important applications. This monograph provides a comprehensive treatment of the theory of pseudo-reductive groups and gives their classification in a usable form. In this second edition there is new material on relative root systems and Tits systems for general smooth affine groups, including the extension to quasi-reductive groups of famous simplicity resul...

At the heart of this short introduction to category theory is the idea of a universal property, important throughout mathematics. After an introductory chapter giving the basic definitions, separate chapters explain three ways of expressing universal properties: via adjoint functors, representable functors, and limits. A final chapter ties all three together. The book is suitable for use in courses or for independent study. Assuming relatively little mathematical background, it is ideal fo...

In 2013, a little known mathematician in his late 50s stunned the mathematical community with a breakthrough on an age-old problem about prime numbers. Since then, there has been further dramatic progress on the problem, thanks to the efforts of a large-scale online collaborative effort of a type that would have been unthinkable in mathematics a couple of decades ago, and the insight and creativity of a young mathematician at the start of his career. Prime numbers have intrigued, inspired ...

The book gives a detailed account of the development of the theory of algebraic equations, from its origins in ancient times to its completion by Galois in the nineteenth century. The appropriate parts of works by Cardano, Lagrange, Vandermonde, Gauss, Abel, and Galois are reviewed and placed in their historical perspective, with the aim of conveying to the reader a sense of the way in which the theory of algebraic equations has evolved and has led to such basic mathematical notions as 'gr...

A new approach to abstract algebra that eases student anxieties by building on fundamentals.Introduction to Abstract Algebra presents a breakthrough approach to teaching one of math's most intimidating concepts. Avoiding the pitfalls common in the standard textbooks, Benjamin Fine, Anthony M. Gaglione, and Gerhard Rosenberger set a pace that allows beginner-level students to follow the progression from familiar topics such as rings, numbers, and groups to ...

A classical theorem of Jordan states that every finite transitive permutation group contains a derangement. This existence result has interesting and unexpected applications in many areas of mathematics, including graph theory, number theory and topology. Various generalisations have been studied in more recent years, with a particular focus on the existence of derangements with special properties. Written for academic researchers and postgraduate students working in related areas of algeb...

This is the second in a series of three volumes dealing with important topics in algebra. Volume 2 is an introduction to linear algebra (including linear algebra over rings), Galois theory, representation theory, and the theory of group extensions. The section on linear algebra (chapters 1–5) does not require any background material from Algebra 1, except an understanding of set theory. Linear algebra is the most applicable branch of mathematics, and it is essential for students o...

This highly readable book aims to ease the many challenges of starting undergraduate research. It accomplishes this by presenting a diverse series of self-contained, accessible articles which include specific open problems and prepare the reader to tackle them with ample background material and references. Each article also contains a carefully selected bibliography for further reading.The content spans the breadth of mathematics, including many topics that are not normally address...

Eugène Charles Catalan made his famous conjecture – that 8 and 9 are the only two consecutive perfect powers of natural numbers – in 1844 in a letter to the editor of Crelle’s mathematical journal. One hundred and fifty-eight years later, Preda Mihailescu proved it.Catalan’s Conjecture presents this spectacular result in a way that is accessible to the advanced undergraduate. The author dissects both Mihailescu’s proof and the earlier work it made use of, taking great care to selec...

The Woods Hole trace formula is a Lefschetz fixed-point theorem for coherent cohomology on algebraic varieties. It leads to a version of the sheaves-functions dictionary of Deligne, relating characteristic-p-valued functions on the rational points of varieties over finite fields to coherent modules equipped with a Frobenius structure. This book begins with a short introduction to the homological theory of crystals of Böckle and Pink with the aim of introducing the sheaves-functions diction...

This book provides a detailed and largely self-contained description of various classical and new results on solvability and unsolvability of equations in explicit form. In particular, it offers a complete exposition of the relatively new area of topological Galois theory, initiated by the author. Applications of Galois theory to solvability of algebraic equations by radicals, basics of Picard–Vessiot theory, and Liouville's results on the class of functions representable by quadratures ar...

There are still many arithmetic mysteries surrounding the values of the Riemann zeta function at the odd positive integers greater than one. For example, the matter of their irrationality, let alone transcendence, remains largely unknown. However, by extending ideas of Garland, Borel proved that these values are related to the higher K-theory of the ring of integers. Shortly afterwards, Bloch and Kato proposed a Tamagawa number-type conjecture for these values, and showed that it would fol...