Talteori

‘I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.’It was with these words, written in the 1630s, that Pierre de Fermat intrigued and infuriated the mathematics community. For over 350 years, proving Fermat’s Last Theorem was the most notorious unsolved mathematical problem, a puzzle whose basics most children could grasp but whose solution eluded the greatest minds in the world. In 1993, after years of secret toil, Englishman Andrew Wiles announced to an astounded audience that he had cracked Fermat’s Last Theorem. He had no idea of the nightmare that lay ahead.In ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ Simon Singh has crafted a remarkable tale of intellectual endeavour spanning three centuries, and a moving testament to the obsession, sacrifice and extraordinary determination of Andrew Wiles: one man against all the odds.

Today complex numbers have such widespread practical use--from electrical engineering to aeronautics--that few people would expect the story behind their derivation to be filled with adventure and enigma. In An Imaginary Tale, Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' most elusive numbers, the square root of minus one, also known as i. He recreates the baffling mathematical problems that conjured it up, and the colorful characters who tried to solve them. In 1878, when two brothers stole a mathematical papyrus from the ancient Egyptian burial site in the Valley of Kings, they led scholars to the earliest known occurrence of the square root of a negative number. The papyrus offered a specific numerical example of how to calculate the volume of a truncated square pyramid, which implied the need for i. In the first century, the mathematician-engineer Heron of Alexandria encountered I in a separate project, but fudged the arithmetic; medieval mathematicians stumbled upon the concept while grappling with the meaning of negative numbers, but dismissed their square roots as nonsense.By the time of Descartes, a theoretical use for these elusive square roots--now called "imaginary numbers"--was suspected, but efforts to solve them led to intense, bitter debates. The notorious i finally won acceptance and was put to use in complex analysis and theoretical physics in Napoleonic times. Addressing readers with both a general and scholarly interest in mathematics, Nahin weaves into this narrative entertaining historical facts and mathematical discussions, including the application of complex numbers and functions to important problems, such as Kepler's laws of planetary motion and ac electrical circuits. This book can be read as an engaging history, almost a biography, of one of the most evasive and pervasive "numbers" in all of mathematics.

Number theory is the branch of mathematics that is primarily concerned with the counting numbers. Of particular importance are the prime numbers, the 'building blocks' of our number system. The subject is an old one, dating back over two millennia to the ancient Greeks, and for many years has been studied for its intrinsic beauty and elegance, not least because several of its challenges are so easy to state that everyone can understand them, and yet no-one has ever been able to resolve them. But number theory has also recently become of great practical importance - in the area of cryptography, where the security of your credit card, and indeed of the nation's defence, depends on a result concerning prime numbers that dates back to the 18th century. Recent years have witnessed other spectacular developments, such as Andrew Wiles's proof of 'Fermat's last theorem' (unproved for over 250 years) and some exciting work on prime numbers. In this Very Short Introduction Robin Wilson introduces the main areas of classical number theory, both ancient and modern. Drawing on the work of many of the greatest mathematicians of the past, such as Euclid, Fermat, Euler, and Gauss, he situates some of the most interesting and creative problems in the area in their historical context.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Analytic Number Theory distinguishes itself by the variety of tools it uses to establish results, many of which belong to the mainstream of arithmetic. One of the main attractions of analytic number theory is the vast diversity of concepts and methods it includes. The main goal of the book is to show the scope of the theory, both in classical and modern directions, and to exhibit its wealth and prospects, its beautiful theorems and powerful techniques.The book is written with graduate students in mind, and the authors tried to balance between clarity, completeness, and generality. The exercises in each section serve a dual purpose, with some intended to improve the reader's understanding of the subject and others providing additional information. Formal prerequisites for the major part of the book do not go beyond calculus, complex analysis, integration, and Fourier series and integrals. In later chapters automorphic forms become important, with much necessary information about them included in two survey chapters.

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 relationshipbetween 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 $3x+1$ problem, or Collatz problem, concerns the following seemingly innocent arithmetic procedure applied to integers: If an integer $x$ is odd then ``multiply by three and add one'', while if it is even then ``divide by two''. The $3x+1$ problem asks whether, starting from any positive integer, repeating this procedure over and over will eventually reach the number 1. Despite its simple appearance, this problem is unsolved. Generalizations of the problem are known to be undecidable, and the problem itself is believed to be extraordinarily difficult.This book reports on what is known on this problem. It consists of a collection of papers, which can be read independently of each other. The book begins with two introductory papers, one giving an overview and current status, and the second giving history and basic results on the problem. These are followed by three survey papers on the problem, relating it to number theory and dynamical systems, to Markov chains and ergodic theory, and to logic and the theory of computation. The next paper presents results on probabilistic models for behavior of the iteration. This is followed by a paper giving the latest computational results on the problem, which verify its truth for $x < 5.4 \cdot 10^{18}$. The book also reprints six early papers on the problem and related questions, by L. Collatz, J. H. Conway, H. S. M. Coxeter, C. J. Everett, and R. K. Guy, each with editorial commentary. The book concludes with an annotated bibliography of work on the problem up to the year 2000.

This book is a concise, self-contained treatise on abstract algebra with an introduction to number theory, where students normally encounter rigorous mathematics for the first time. The authors build up things slowly, by explaining the importance of proofs. Number theory with its focus on prime numbers is then bridged via complex numbers and linear algebra, to the standard concepts of a course in abstract algebra, namely groups, representations, rings, and modules.The interplay between these notions becomes evident in the various topics studied. Galois theory connects field extensions with automorphism groups. The group algebra ties group representations with modules over rings, also at the level of induced representations. Quadratic reciprocity occurs in the study of Fourier analysis over finite fields. Jordan decomposition of matrices is obtained by decomposition of modules over PID’s of complex polynomials. This latter example is just one of many stunning generalizations of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, which in its various guises penetrates abstract algebra and figures multiple times in the extensive final chapter on modules.

From the reviews of the second edition:"This book covers many interesting topics not usually covered in a present day undergraduate course, as well as certain basic topics such as the development of the calculus and the solution of polynomial equations. The fact that the topics are introduced in their historical contexts will enable students to better appreciate and understand the mathematical ideas involved...If one constructs a list of topics central to a history course, then they would closely resemble those chosen here."(David Parrott, Australian Mathematical Society)This third edition includes new chapters on simple groups and combinatorics, and new sections on several topics, including the Poincare conjecture. The book has also been enriched by added exercises.

This revised and enlarged sixth edition of Proofs from THE BOOK features an entirely new chapter on Van der Waerden’s permanent conjecture, as well as additional, highly original and delightful proofs in other chapters.From the citation on the occasion of the 2018 "Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition"“… It is almost impossible to write a mathematics book that can be read and enjoyed by people of all levels and backgrounds, yet Aigner and Ziegler accomplish this feat of exposition with virtuoso style. […] This book does an invaluable service to mathematics, by illustrating for non-mathematicians what it is that mathematicians mean when they speak about beauty.”From the Reviews"... Inside PFTB (Proofs from The Book) is indeed a glimpse of mathematical heaven, where clever insights and beautiful ideas combine in astonishing and glorious ways. There is vast wealth within its pages, one gem after another. ... Aigner and Ziegler... write: "... all we offer is the examples that we have selected, hoping that our readers will share our enthusiasm about brilliant ideas, clever insights and wonderful observations." I do. ... "Notices of the AMS, August 1999"... This book is a pleasure to hold and to look at: ample margins, nice photos, instructive pictures and beautiful drawings ... It is a pleasure to read as well: the style is clear and entertaining, the level is close to elementary, the necessary background is given separately and the proofs are brilliant. ..."LMS Newsletter, January 1999"Martin Aigner and Günter Ziegler succeeded admirably in putting together a broad collection of theorems and their proofs that would undoubtedly be in the Book of Erdös. The theorems are so fundamental, their proofs so elegant and the remaining open questions so intriguing that every mathematician, regardless of speciality, can benefit from reading this book. ..." SIGACT News, December 2011

The classic Heath translation, in a completely new layout with plenty of space and generous margins. An affordable but sturdy sewn hardcover student and teacher edition in one volume, with minimal notes and a new index/glossary.

From the reviews of the second edition:"This book covers many interesting topics not usually covered in a present day undergraduate course, as well as certain basic topics such as the development of the calculus and the solution of polynomial equations. The fact that the topics are introduced in their historical contexts will enable students to better appreciate and understand the mathematical ideas involved...If one constructs a list of topics central to a history course, then they would closely resemble those chosen here."(David Parrott, Australian Mathematical Society)This third edition includes new chapters on simple groups and combinatorics, and new sections on several topics, including the Poincare conjecture. The book has also been enriched by added exercises.

We use addition on a daily basis--yet how many of us stop to truly consider the enormous and remarkable ramifications of this mathematical activity? Summing It Up uses addition as a springboard to present a fascinating and accessible look at numbers and number theory, and how we apply beautiful numerical properties to answer math problems. Mathematicians Avner Ash and Robert Gross explore addition's most basic characteristics as well as the addition of squares and other powers before moving onward to infinite series, modular forms, and issues at the forefront of current mathematical research. Ash and Gross tailor their succinct and engaging investigations for math enthusiasts of all backgrounds. Employing college algebra, the first part of the book examines such questions as, can all positive numbers be written as a sum of four perfect squares? The second section of the book incorporates calculus and examines infinite series--long sums that can only be defined by the concept of limit, as in the example of 1+1/2+1/4+...=?With the help of some group theory and geometry, the third section ties together the first two parts of the book through a discussion of modular forms--the analytic functions on the upper half-plane of the complex numbers that have growth and transformation properties. Ash and Gross show how modular forms are indispensable in modern number theory, for example in the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Appropriate for numbers novices as well as college math majors, Summing It Up delves into mathematics that will enlighten anyone fascinated by numbers.

Understanding maths has never been easier.Combining bold, elegant graphics with easy-to-understand text, Simply Maths is the perfect introduction to the subject for those who are short of time but hungry for knowledge.Covering more than 90 key mathematical concepts from prime numbers and fractions to quadratic equations and probability experiments, each pared-back, single-page entry explains the concept more clearly than ever before.Organized by major themes - number theory and systems; calculations; geometry; algebra; graphs; ratio and proportion; measurement; probability and statistics; and calculus - entries explain the essentials of each key mathematical theory with simple clarity and for ease of understanding.Whether you are studying maths at school or college, or simply want a jargon-free overview of the subject, this indispensable guide is packed with everything you need to understand the basics quickly and easily.

Written by a distinguished mathematician and teacher, this undergraduate text uses a combinatorial approach to accommodate both math majors and liberal arts students. In addition to covering the basics of number theory, it offers an outstanding introduction to partitions, plus chapters on multiplicativity-divisibility, quadratic congruences, additivity, and more.

The theory of elliptic curves involves a pleasing blend of algebra, geometry, analysis, and number theory. This volume stresses this interplay as it develops the basic theory, thereby providing an opportunity for advanced undergraduates to appreciate the unity of modern mathematics. At the same time, every effort has been made to use only methods and results commonly included in the undergraduate curriculum. This accessibility, the informal writing style, and a wealth of exercises make Rational Points on Elliptic Curves an ideal introduction for students at all levels who are interested in learning about Diophantine equations and arithmetic geometry.Most concretely, an elliptic curve is the set of zeroes of a cubic polynomial in two variables. If the polynomial has rational coefficients, then one can ask for a description of those zeroes whose coordinates are either integers or rational numbers. It is this number theoretic question that is the main subject of Rational Points on Elliptic Curves. Topics covered include the geometry and group structure of elliptic curves, the Nagell–Lutz theorem describing points of finite order, the Mordell–Weil theorem on the finite generation of the group of rational points, the Thue–Siegel theorem on the finiteness of the set of integer points, theorems on counting points with coordinates in finite fields, Lenstra's elliptic curve factorization algorithm, and a discussion of complex multiplication and the Galois representations associated to torsion points. Additional topics new to the second edition include an introduction to elliptic curve cryptography and a brief discussion of the stunning proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by Wiles et al. via the use of elliptic curves.

Prime numbers are beautiful, mysterious, and beguiling mathematical objects. The mathematician Bernhard Riemann made a celebrated conjecture about primes in 1859, the so-called Riemann hypothesis, which remains one of the most important unsolved problems in mathematics. Through the deep insights of the authors, this book introduces primes and explains the Riemann hypothesis. Students with a minimal mathematical background and scholars alike will enjoy this comprehensive discussion of primes. The first part of the book will inspire the curiosity of a general reader with an accessible explanation of the key ideas. The exposition of these ideas is generously illuminated by computational graphics that exhibit the key concepts and phenomena in enticing detail. Readers with more mathematical experience will then go deeper into the structure of primes and see how the Riemann hypothesis relates to Fourier analysis using the vocabulary of spectra. Readers with a strong mathematical background will be able to connect these ideas to historical formulations of the Riemann hypothesis.

This long-anticipated work shares the aims of its celebrated companion: namely, to provide an introduction for students and a reference for researchers to the techniques, results, and terminology of multiplicative number theory. This volume builds on the earlier one (which served as an introduction to basic, classical results) and focuses on sieve methods. This area has witnessed a number of major advances in recent years, e.g. gaps between primes, large values of Dirichlet polynomials and zero density estimates, all of which feature here. Despite the fact that the book can serve as an entry to contemporary mathematics, it remains largely self-contained, with appendices containing background or material more advanced than undergraduate mathematics. Again, exercises, of which there is a profusion, illustrate the theory or indicate ways in which it can be developed. Each chapter ends with a thorough set of references, which will be essential for all analytic number theorists.

This book provides a foundation for arithmetic topology, a new branch of mathematics that investigates the analogies between the topology of knots, 3-manifolds, and the arithmetic of number fields. Arithmetic topology is now becoming a powerful guiding principle and driving force to obtain parallel results and new insights between 3-dimensional geometry and number theory.After an informative introduction to Gauss' work, in which arithmetic topology originated, the text reviews a background from both topology and number theory. The analogy between knots in 3-manifolds and primes in number rings, the founding principle of the subject, is based on the étale topological interpretation of primes and number rings. On the basis of this principle, the text explores systematically intimate analogies and parallel results of various concepts and theories between 3-dimensional topology and number theory. The presentation of these analogies begins at an elementary level, gradually building to advanced theories in later chapters. Many results presented here are new and original.References are clearly provided if necessary, and many examples and illustrations are included. Some useful problems are also given for future research. All these components make the book useful for graduate students and researchers in number theory, low dimensional topology, and geometry.This second edition is a corrected and enlarged version of the original one. Misprints and mistakes in the first edition are corrected, references are updated, and some expositions are improved. Because of the remarkable developments in arithmetic topology after the publication of the first edition, the present edition includes two new chapters. One is concerned with idelic class field theory for 3-manifolds and number fields. The other deals with topological and arithmetic Dijkgraaf–Witten theory, which supports a new bridge between arithmetic topology and mathematical physics.

Elliptic Tales describes the latest developments in number theory by looking at one of the most exciting unsolved problems in contemporary mathematics--the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture. In this book, Avner Ash and Robert Gross guide readers through the mathematics they need to understand this captivating problem. The key to the conjecture lies in elliptic curves, which may appear simple, but arise from some very deep--and often very mystifying--mathematical ideas. Using only basic algebra and calculus while presenting numerous eye-opening examples, Ash and Gross make these ideas accessible to general readers, and, in the process, venture to the very frontiers of modern mathematics.

Number theory is one of the oldest branches of mathematics that is primarily concerned with positive integers. While it has long been studied for its beauty and elegance as a branch of pure mathematics, it has seen a resurgence in recent years with the advent of the digital world for its modern applications in both computer science and cryptography. Number Theory: Step by Step is an undergraduate-level introduction to number theory that assumes no prior knowledge, but works to gradually increase the reader's confidence and ability to tackle more difficult material. The strength of the text is in its large number of examples and the step-by-step explanation of each topic as it is introduced to help aid understanding the abstract mathematics of number theory. It is compiled in such a way that allows self-study, with explicit solutions to all the set of problems freely available online via the companion website. Punctuating the text are short and engaging historical profiles that add context for the topics covered and provide a dynamic background for the subject matter.

Diophantine geometry has been studied by number theorists for thousands of years, since the time of Pythagoras, and has continued to be a rich area of ideas such as Fermat's Last Theorem, and most recently the ABC conjecture. This monograph is a bridge between the classical theory and modern approach via arithmetic geometry. The authors provide a clear path through the subject for graduate students and researchers. They have re-examined many results and much of the literature, and give a thorough account of several topics at a level not seen before in book form. The treatment is largely self-contained, with proofs given in full detail. Many results appear here for the first time. The book concludes with a comprehensive bibliography. It is destined to be a definitive reference on modern diophantine geometry, bringing a new standard of rigor and elegance to the field.

This book deals with several aspects of what is now called "explicit number theory." The central theme is the solution of Diophantine equations, i.e., equations or systems of polynomial equations which must be solved in integers, rational numbers or more generally in algebraic numbers. This theme, in particular, is the central motivation for the modern theory of arithmetic algebraic geometry. In this text, this is considered through three of its most basic aspects. The first is the local aspect, the second is the global aspect, and the third aspect is the theory of zeta and L-functions. This last aspect can be considered as a unifying theme for the whole subject, and embodies in a beautiful way the local and global aspects of Diophantine problems. This unique collection of topics contains more than 350 exercises and its text is largely self-contained.

The computation of invariants of algebraic number fields such as integral bases, discriminants, prime decompositions, ideal class groups, and unit groups is important both for its own sake and for its numerous applications, for example, to the solution of Diophantine equations. The practical com­ pletion of this task (sometimes known as the Dedekind program) has been one of the major achievements of computational number theory in the past ten years, thanks to the efforts of many people. Even though some practical problems still exist, one can consider the subject as solved in a satisfactory manner, and it is now routine to ask a specialized Computer Algebra Sys­ tem such as Kant/Kash, liDIA, Magma, or Pari/GP, to perform number field computations that would have been unfeasible only ten years ago. The (very numerous) algorithms used are essentially all described in A Course in Com­ putational Algebraic Number Theory, GTM 138, first published in 1993 (third corrected printing 1996), which is referred to here as [CohO]. That text also treats other subjects such as elliptic curves, factoring, and primality testing. Itis important and natural to generalize these algorithms. Several gener­ alizations can be considered, but the most important are certainly the gen­ eralizations to global function fields (finite extensions of the field of rational functions in one variable overa finite field) and to relative extensions ofnum­ ber fields. As in [CohO], in the present book we will consider number fields only and not deal at all with function fields.

Prime numbers have fascinated mathematicians since the time of Euclid. This book presents some of our best tools to capture the properties of these fundamental objects, beginning with the most basic notions of asymptotic estimates and arriving at the forefront of mathematical research. Detailed proofs of the recent spectacular advances on small and large gaps between primes are made accessible for the first time in textbook form. Some other highlights include an introduction to probabilistic methods, a detailed study of sieves, and elements of the theory of pretentious multiplicative functions leading to a proof of Linnik's theorem. Throughout, the emphasis has been placed on explaining the main ideas rather than the most general results available. As a result, several methods are presented in terms of concrete examples that simplify technical details, and theorems are stated in a form that facilitates the understanding of their proof at the cost of sacrificing some generality. Each chapter concludes with numerous exercises of various levels of difficulty aimed to exemplify the material, as well as to expose the readers to more advanced topics and point them to further reading sources.

This book presents multiprecision algorithms used in number theory and elsewhere, such as extrapolation, numerical integration, numerical summation (including multiple zeta values and the Riemann-Siegel formula), evaluation and speed of convergence of continued fractions, Euler products and Euler sums, inverse Mellin transforms, and complex $L$-functions. For each task, many algorithms are presented, such as Gaussian and doubly-exponential integration, Euler-MacLaurin, Abel-Plana, Lagrange, and Monien summation. Each algorithm is given in detail, together with a complete implementation in the free Pari/GP system. These implementations serve both to make even more precise the inner workings of the algorithms, and to gently introduce advanced features of the Pari/GP language. This book will be appreciated by anyone interested in number theory, specifically in practical implementations, computer experiments and numerical algorithms that can be scaled to produce thousands of digits of accuracy.

Think of a number between one and ten.No, hang on, let's make this interesting. Between zero and infinity. Even if you stick to the whole numbers, there are a lot to choose from - an infinite number in fact. Throw in decimal fractions and infinity suddenly gets an awful lot bigger (is that even possible?) And then there are the negative numbers, the imaginary numbers, the irrational numbers like pi which never end. It literally never ends.The world of numbers is indeed strange and beautiful. Among its inhabitants are some really notable characters - pi, e, the "imaginary" number i and the famous golden ratio to name just a few. Prime numbers occupy a special status. Zero is very odd indeed: is it a number, or isn't it?How Numbers Work takes a tour of this mind-blowing but beautiful realm of numbers and the mathematical rules that connect them. Not only that, but take a crash course on the biggest unsolved problems that keep mathematicians up at night, find out about the strange and unexpected ways mathematics influences our everyday lives, and discover the incredible connection between numbers and reality itself.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.