Carl Friedrich Gauss’s textbook, Disquisitiones arithmeticae, published in 1801 (Latin), remains to this day a true masterpiece of mathematical examination. .
Since its publication, C.F. Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1801) has acquired an almost mythical reputation, standing as an ideal of exposition in notation, problems and methods; as a model of organisation and theory building; and as a source of mathematical inspiration. Eighteen authors - mathematicians, historians, philosophers - have collaborated in this volume to assess the impact of the Disquisitiones, in the two centuries since its publication.
From the reviews: "L.R. Shafarevich showed me the first edition [...] and said that this book will be from now on the book about class field theory. In fact it is by far the most complete treatment of the main theorems of algebraic number theory, including function fields over finite constant fields, that appeared in book form." Zentralblatt MATH
In this volume the author further develops his philosophy of quantum interpolation between the real numbers and the p-adic numbers. The p-adic numbers contain the p-adic integers Zp which are the inverse limit of the finite rings Z/pn. This gives rise to a tree, and probability measures w on Zp correspond to Markov chains on this tree. From the tree structure one obtains special basis for the Hilbert space L2(Zp,w). The real analogue of the p-adic integers is the interval [-1,1], and a probability measure w on it gives rise to a special basis for L2([-1,1],w) - the orthogonal polynomials, and to a Markov chain on "finite approximations" of [-1,1]. For special (gamma and beta) measures there is a "quantum" or "q-analogue" Markov chain, and a special basis, that within certain limits yield the real and the p-adic theories. This idea can be generalized variously. In representation theory, it is the quantum general linear group GLn(q)that interpolates between the p-adic group GLn(Zp), and between its real (and complex) analogue -the orthogonal On (and unitary Un )groups. There is a similar quantum interpolation between the real and p-adic Fourier transform and between the real and p-adic (local unramified part of) Tate thesis, and Weil explicit sums.
Among the topics featured in this textbook are: congruences; the fundamental theorem of arithmetic; exponentiation and orders; primality testing; the RSA cipher system; polynomials; modules of hypernumbers; signatures of equivalence classes; and the theory of binary quadratic forms. The book contains exercises with answers.
Number Theory Revealed: An Introduction acquaints undergraduates with the “Queen of Mathematics”. The text offers a fresh take on congruences, power residues, quadratic residues, primes, and Diophantine equations and presents hot topics like cryptography, factoring, and primality testing. Students are also introduced to beautiful enlightening questions like the structure of Pascal's triangle mod p p and modern twists on traditional questions like the values represented by binary quadratic forms and large solutions of equations. Each chapter includes an “elective appendix” with additional reading, projects, and references. An expanded edition, Number Theory Revealed: A Masterclass, offers a more comprehensive approach to these core topics and adds additional material in further chapters and appendices, allowing instructors to create an individualized course tailored to their own (and their students') interests.
This textbook provides an accessible account of the history of abstract algebra, tracing a range of topics in modern algebra and number theory back to their modest presence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and exploring the impact of ideas on the development of the subject. Beginning with Gauss’s theory of numbers and Galois’s ideas, the book progresses to Dedekind and Kronecker, Jordan and Klein, Steinitz, Hilbert, and Emmy Noether. Approaching mathematical topics from a historical perspective, the author explores quadratic forms, quadratic reciprocity, Fermat’s Last Theorem, cyclotomy, quintic equations, Galois theory, commutative rings, abstract fields, ideal theory, invariant theory, and group theory. Readers will learn what Galois accomplished, how difficult the proofs of his theorems were, and how important Camille Jordan and Felix Klein were in the eventual acceptance of Galois’s approach to the solution of equations. The book also describes the relationship between Kummer’s ideal numbers and Dedekind’s ideals, and discusses why Dedekind felt his solution to the divisor problem was better than Kummer’s. Designed for a course in the history of modern algebra, this book is aimed at undergraduate students with an introductory background in algebra but will also appeal to researchers with a general interest in the topic. With exercises at the end of each chapter and appendices providing material difficult to find elsewhere, this book is self-contained and therefore suitable for self-study.
The exposition of the classical theory of algebraic numbers is clear and thorough, and there is a large number of exercises as well as worked out numerical examples. A careful study of this book will provide a solid background to the learning of more recent topics.
6Et moi, ..., si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the human mce. It has put common sense back je n'y serais point alle.' Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf nCllt to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non sense'. The series is divergent; therefore we may be able to do something with it. Eric T. Bell O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com puter science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.
Growing out of a course designed to teach Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae to honors-level undergraduates, Flath's Introduction to Number Theory focuses on Gauss's theory of binary quadratic forms. It is suitable for use as a textbook in a course or self-study by advanced undergraduates or graduate students who possess a basic familiarity with abstract algebra. The text treats a variety of topics from elementary number theory including the distribution of primes, sums of squares, continued factions, the Legendre, Jacobi and Kronecker symbols, the class group and genera. But the focus is on quadratic reciprocity (several proofs are given including one that highlights the p−q symmetry) and binary quadratic forms. The reader will come away with a good understanding of what Gauss intended in the Disquisitiones and Dirichlet in his Vorlesungen. The text also includes a lovely appendix by J. P. Serre titled Δ=b2−4ac. The clarity of the author's vision is matched by the clarity of his exposition. This is a book that reveals the discovery of the quadratic core of algebraic number theory. It should be on the desk of every instructor of introductory number theory as a source of inspiration, motivation, examples, and historical insight.