The theory of hyperbolic groups has its starting point in a fundamental paper by M. Gromov, published in 1987. These are finitely generated groups that share important properties with negatively curved Riemannian manifolds. This monograph is intended to be an introduction to part of Gromov's theory, giving basic definitions, some of the most important examples, various properties of hyperbolic groups, and an application to the construction of infinite torsion groups. The main theme is the relevance of geometric ideas to the understanding of finitely generated groups. In addition to chapters written by the editors, contributions by W. Ballmann, A. Haefliger, E. Salem, R. Strebel, and M. Troyanov are also included.The book will be particularly useful to researchers in combinatorial group theory, Riemannian geometry, and theoretical physics, as well as post-graduate students interested in these fields.
