This volume presents a collection of articles that are based on talks delivered at the International Conference on the Algebraic and Arithmetic Theory of Quadratic Forms held in Frutillar, Chile in December 2007. The theory of quadratic forms is closely connected with a broad spectrum of areas in algebra and number theory. The articles in this volume deal mainly with questions from the algebraic, geometric, arithmetic, and analytic theory of quadratic forms, and related questions in algebraic group theory and algebraic geometry.
This book is a comprehensive study of the algebraic theory of quadratic forms, from classical theory to recent developments, including results and proofs that have never been published. The book is written from the viewpoint of algebraic geometry and includes the theory of quadratic forms over fields of characteristic two, with proofs that are characteristic independent whenever possible. For some results both classical and geometric proofs are given. Part I includes classical algebraic theory of quadratic and bilinear forms and answers many questions that have been raised in the early stages of the development of the theory. Assuming only a basic course in algebraic geometry, Part II presents the necessary additional topics from algebraic geometry including the theory of Chow groups, Chow motives, and Steenrod operations. These topics are used in Part III to develop a modern geometric theory of quadratic forms.
For a long time - at least from Fermat to Minkowski - the theory of quadratic forms was a part of number theory. Much of the best work of the great number theorists of the eighteenth and nineteenth century was concerned with problems about quadratic forms. On the basis of their work, Minkowski, Siegel, Hasse, Eichler and many others crea ted the impressive "arithmetic" theory of quadratic forms, which has been the object of the well-known books by Bachmann (1898/1923), Eichler (1952), and O'Meara (1963). Parallel to this development the ideas of abstract algebra and abstract linear algebra introduced by Dedekind, Frobenius, E. Noether and Artin led to today's structural mathematics with its emphasis on classification problems and general structure theorems. On the basis of both - the number theory of quadratic forms and the ideas of modern algebra - Witt opened, in 1937, a new chapter in the theory of quadratic forms. His most fruitful idea was to consider not single "individual" quadratic forms but rather the entity of all forms over a fixed ground field and to construct from this an algebra ic object. This object - the Witt ring - then became the principal object of the entire theory. Thirty years later Pfister demonstrated the significance of this approach by his celebrated structure theorems.
This volume outlines the proceedings of the conference on "Quadratic Forms and Their Applications" held at University College Dublin. It includes survey articles and research papers ranging from applications in topology and geometry to the algebraic theory of quadratic forms and its history. Various aspects of the use of quadratic forms in algebra, analysis, topology, geometry, and number theory are addressed. Special features include the first published proof of the Conway-Schneeberger Fifteen Theorem on integer-valued quadratic forms and the first English-language biography of Ernst Witt, founder of the theory of quadratic forms.
This book is divided into two parts. The first one is purely algebraic. Its objective is the classification of quadratic forms over the field of rational numbers (Hasse-Minkowski theorem). It is achieved in Chapter IV. The first three chapters contain some preliminaries: quadratic reciprocity law, p-adic fields, Hilbert symbols. Chapter V applies the preceding results to integral quadratic forms of discriminant ± I. These forms occur in various questions: modular functions, differential topology, finite groups. The second part (Chapters VI and VII) uses "analytic" methods (holomor phic functions). Chapter VI gives the proof of the "theorem on arithmetic progressions" due to Dirichlet; this theorem is used at a critical point in the first part (Chapter Ill, no. 2.2). Chapter VII deals with modular forms, and in particular, with theta functions. Some of the quadratic forms of Chapter V reappear here. The two parts correspond to lectures given in 1962 and 1964 to second year students at the Ecole Normale Superieure. A redaction of these lectures in the form of duplicated notes, was made by J.-J. Sansuc (Chapters I-IV) and J.-P. Ramis and G. Ruget (Chapters VI-VII). They were very useful to me; I extend here my gratitude to their authors.
Developments in Mathematics is a book series devoted to all areas of mathematics, pure and applied. The series emphasizes research monographs describing the latest advances. Edited volumes that focus on areas that have seen dramatic progress, or are of special interest, are encouraged as well.
This open access textbook presents a comprehensive treatment of the arithmetic theory of quaternion algebras and orders, a subject with applications in diverse areas of mathematics. Written to be accessible and approachable to the graduate student reader, this text collects and synthesizes results from across the literature. Numerous pathways offer explorations in many different directions, while the unified treatment makes this book an essential reference for students and researchers alike. Divided into five parts, the book begins with a basic introduction to the noncommutative algebra underlying the theory of quaternion algebras over fields, including the relationship to quadratic forms. An in-depth exploration of the arithmetic of quaternion algebras and orders follows. The third part considers analytic aspects, starting with zeta functions and then passing to an idelic approach, offering a pathway from local to global that includes strong approximation. Applications of unit groups of quaternion orders to hyperbolic geometry and low-dimensional topology follow, relating geometric and topological properties to arithmetic invariants. Arithmetic geometry completes the volume, including quaternionic aspects of modular forms, supersingular elliptic curves, and the moduli of QM abelian surfaces. Quaternion Algebras encompasses a vast wealth of knowledge at the intersection of many fields. Graduate students interested in algebra, geometry, and number theory will appreciate the many avenues and connections to be explored. Instructors will find numerous options for constructing introductory and advanced courses, while researchers will value the all-embracing treatment. Readers are assumed to have some familiarity with algebraic number theory and commutative algebra, as well as the fundamentals of linear algebra, topology, and complex analysis. More advanced topics call upon additional background, as noted, though essential concepts and motivation are recapped throughout.
This proceedings volume contains papers presented at the International Conference on the algebraic and arithmetic theory of quadratic forms held in Talca (Chile). The modern theory of quadratic forms has connections with a broad spectrum of mathematical areas including number theory, geometry, and K-theory. This volume contains survey and research articles covering the range of connections among these topics. The survey articles bring readers up-to-date on research and open problems in representation theory of integral quadratic forms, the algebraic theory of finite square class fields, and developments in the theory of Witt groups of triangulated categories. The specialized articles present important developments in both the algebraic and arithmetic theory of quadratic forms, as well as connections to geometry and K-theory. The volume is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in various aspects of the theory of quadratic forms.
