Bøger i Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics serien

This is a short text in linear algebra, intended for a one-term course. He then starts with a discussion of linear equations, matrices and Gaussian elimination, and proceeds to discuss vector spaces, linear maps, scalar products, determinants, and eigenvalues.

Outlines an elementary, one semester course, which exposes students to both the process of rigor, and the rewards inherent in taking an axiomatic approach to the study of functions of a real variable. This book focuses on questions which give analysis its inherent fascination.

This innovative undergraduate textbook approaches number theory through the lens of abstract algebra. Written in an engaging and whimsical style, this text will introduce students to rings, groups, fields, and other algebraic structures as they discover the key concepts of elementary number theory. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) appears throughout the chapters, allowing students to develop insights for upcoming sections while simultaneously strengthening their understanding of previously covered topics. The text is organized around three core themes: the notion of what a ¿number¿ is, and the premise that it takes familiarity with a large variety of number systems to fully explore number theory; the use of Diophantine equations as catalysts for introducing and developing structural ideas; and the role of abstract algebra in number theory, in particular the extent to which it provides the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic for various new number systems. Other aspects of modern number theory ¿ including the study of elliptic curves, the analogs between integer and polynomial arithmetic, p-adic arithmetic, and relationships between the spectra of primes in various rings ¿ are included in smaller but persistent threads woven through chapters and exercise sets.Each chapter concludes with exercises organized in four categories: Calculations and Informal Proofs, Formal Proofs, Computation and Experimentation, and General Number Theory Awareness. IBL ¿Exploration¿ worksheets appear in many sections, some of which involve numerical investigations. To assist students who may not have experience with programming languages, Python worksheets are available on the book¿s website. The final chapter provides five additional IBL explorations that reinforce and expand what students have learned, and can be used as starting points for independent projects. The topics covered in these explorations are public key cryptography, Lagrange¿s four-square theorem, units and Pell¿s Equation, various cases of the solution to Fermat¿s Last Theorem, and a peek into other deeper mysteries of algebraic number theory.Students should have a basic familiarity with complex numbers, matrix algebra, vector spaces, and proof techniques, as well as a spirit of adventure to explore the ¿numberverse.¿

The famous problems of squaring the circle, doubling the cube and trisecting an angle captured the imagination of both professional and amateur mathematicians for over two thousand years. Despite the enormous effort and ingenious attempts by these men and women, the problems would not yield to purely geometrical methods. It was only the development. of abstract algebra in the nineteenth century which enabled mathematicians to arrive at the surprising conclusion that these constructions are not possible. In this book we develop enough abstract algebra to prove that these constructions are impossible. Our approach introduces all the relevant concepts about fields in a way which is more concrete than usual and which avoids the use of quotient structures (and even of the Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two polynomials). Having the geometrical questions as a specific goal provides motivation for the introduction of the algebraic concepts and we have found that students respond very favourably. We have used this text to teach second-year students at La Trobe University over a period of many years, each time refining the material in the light of student performance.

Every mathematician agrees that every mathematician must know some set theory; the disagreement begins in trying to decide how much is some. This book contains my answer to that question. The purpose of the book is to tell the beginning student of advanced mathematics the basic set- theoretic facts of life, and to do so with the minimum of philosophical discourse and logical formalism. The point of view throughout is that of a prospective mathematician anxious to study groups, or integrals, or manifolds. From this point of view the concepts and methods of this book are merely some of the standard mathematical tools; the expert specialist will find nothing new here. Scholarly bibliographical credits and references are out of place in a purely expository book such as this one. The student who gets interested in set theory for its own sake should know, however, that there is much more to the subject than there is in this book. One of the most beautiful sources of set-theoretic wisdom is still Hausdorff's Set theory. A recent and highly readable addition to the literature, with an extensive and up-to-date bibliography, is Axiomatic set theory by Suppes.

Previous edition sold 2000 copies in 3 years; Explores the subtle connections between Number Theory, Classical Geometry and Modern Algebra; Over 180 illustrations, as well as text and Maple files, are available via the web facilitate understanding: http://mathsgi01.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/wrap/gtoth/; Contains an insert with 4-color illustrations; Includes numerous examples and worked-out problems

This book, together with Linear Algebra, constitutes a curriculum for an algebra program addressed to undergraduates. The separation of the linear algebra from the other basic algebraic structures fits all existing tendencies affecting undergraduate teaching, and I agree with these tendencies. I have made the present book self contained logically, but it is probably better if students take the linear algebra course before being introduced to the more abstract notions of groups, rings, and fields, and the systematic development of their basic abstract properties. There is of course a little overlap with the book Lin- ear Algebra, since I wanted to make the present book self contained. I define vector spaces, matrices, and linear maps and prove their basic properties. The present book could be used for a one-term course, or a year's course, possibly combining it with Linear Algebra. I think it is important to do the field theory and the Galois theory, more important, say, than to do much more group theory than we have done here. There is a chapter on finite fields, which exhibit both features from general field theory, and special features due to characteristic p. Such fields have become important in coding theory.

"e;Linear Algebra"e; is intended for a one-term course at the junior or senior level. It begins with an exposition of the basic theory of vector spaces and proceeds to explain the fundamental structure theorem for linear maps, including eigenvectors and eigenvalues, quadratic and hermitian forms, diagnolization of symmetric, hermitian, and unitary linear maps and matrices, triangulation, and Jordan canonical form. The book also includes a useful chapter on convex sets and the finite-dimensional Krein-Milman theorem. The presentation is aimed at the student who has already had some exposure to the elementary theory of matrices, determinants and linear maps. However the book is logically self-contained. In this new edition, many parts of the book have been rewritten and reorganized, and new exercises have been added.

In this broad introduction to topology, the author searches for topological invariants of spaces, together with techniques for calculating them. Students with knowledge of real analysis, elementary group theory, and linear algebra will quickly become familiar with a wide variety of techniques and applications involving point-set, geometric, and algebraic topology. Over 139 illustrations and more than 350 problems of various difficulties will help students gain a rounded understanding of the subject.

Algebraic curves are the graphs of polynomial equations in two vari- 3 ables, such as y3 + 5xy2 = x + 2xy. By focusing on curves of degree at most 3-lines, conics, and cubics-this book aims to fill the gap between the familiar subject of analytic geometry and the general study of alge- braic curves. This text is designed for a one-semester class that serves both as a a geometry course for mathematics majors in general and as a sequel to college geometry for teachers of secondary school mathe- matics. The only prerequisite is first-year calculus. On the one hand, this book can serve as a text for an undergraduate geometry course for all mathematics majors. Algebraic geometry unites algebra, geometry, topology, and analysis, and it is one of the most exciting areas of modem mathematics. Unfortunately, the subject is not easily accessible, and most introductory courses require a prohibitive amount of mathematical machinery. We avoid this problem by focusing on curves of degree at most 3. This keeps the results tangible and the proofs natural. It lets us emphasize the power of two fundamental ideas, homogeneous coordinates and intersection multiplicities.

Accessible to junior and senior undergraduate students, this survey contains many examples, solved exercises, sets of problems, and parts of abstract algebra of use in many other areas of discrete mathematics. Although this is a mathematics book, the authors have made great efforts to address the needs of users employing the techniques discussed. Fully worked out computational examples are backed by more than 500 exercises throughout the 40 sections. This new edition includes a new chapter on cryptology, and an enlarged chapter on applications of groups, while an extensive chapter has been added to survey other applications not included in the first edition. The book assumes knowledge of the material covered in a course on linear algebra and, preferably, a first course in (abstract) algebra covering the basics of groups, rings, and fields.

This book is intended to complement my Elements oi Algebra, and it is similarly motivated by the problem of solving polynomial equations. However, it is independent of the algebra book, and probably easier. In Elements oi Algebra we sought solution by radicals, and this led to the concepts of fields and groups and their fusion in the celebrated theory of Galois. In the present book we seek integer solutions, and this leads to the concepts of rings and ideals which merge in the equally celebrated theory of ideals due to Kummer and Dedekind. Solving equations in integers is the central problem of number theory, so this book is truly a number theory book, with most of the results found in standard number theory courses. However, numbers are best understood through their algebraic structure, and the necessary algebraic concepts- rings and ideals-have no better motivation than number theory. The first nontrivial examples of rings appear in the number theory of Euler and Gauss. The concept of ideal-today as routine in ring the- ory as the concept of normal subgroup is in group theory-also emerged from number theory, and in quite heroic fashion. Faced with failure of unique prime factorization in the arithmetic of certain generalized "e;inte- gers"e; , Kummer created in the 1840s a new kind of number to overcome the difficulty. He called them "e;ideal numbers"e; because he did not know exactly what they were, though he knew how they behaved.

This textbook illuminates the field of discrete mathematics with examples, theory, and applications of the discrete volume of a polytope. The authors have weaved a unifying thread through basic yet deep ideas in discrete geometry, combinatorics, and number theory. Because there is no other book that puts together all of these ideas in one place, this text is truly a service to the mathematical community. We encounter here a friendly invitation to the field of "e;counting integer points in polytopes,"e; also known as Ehrhart theory, and its various connections to elementary finite Fourier analysis, generating functions, the Frobenius coin-exchange problem, solid angles, magic squares, Dedekind sums, computational geometry, and more. With 250 exercises and open problems, the reader feels like an active participant, and the authors' engaging style encourages such participation. The many compelling pictures that accompany the proofs and examples add to the inviting style. This new edition will contain at least one new chapter, new exercises, many new references, corrections, important updates to the open problems, and some new, professionally done illustrationsFor teachers, this text is ideally suited as a capstone course for undergraduate students or as a compelling text in discrete mathematical topics for beginning graduate students. For scientists, this text can be utilized as a quick tooling device, especially for those who want a self-contained, easy-to-read introduction to these topics.

Many people think there is only one ¿right¿ way to teach geometry. For two millennia, the ¿right¿ way was Euclid¿s way, and it is still good in many respects. But in the 1950s the cry ¿Down with triangles!¿ was heard in France and new geometry books appeared, packed with linear algebra but with no diagrams. Was this the new ¿right¿ way, or was the ¿right¿ way something else again, perhaps transformation groups? In this book, I wish to show that geometry can be developed in four fundamentally different ways, and that all should be used if the subject is to be shown in all its splendor. Euclid-style construction and axiomatics seem the best way to start, but linear algebra smooths the later stages by replacing some tortuous arguments by simple calculations. And how can one avoid projective geometry? It not only explains why objects look the way they do; it also explains why geometry is entangled with algebra. Finally, one needs to know that there is not one geometry, but many, and transformation groups are the best way to distinguish between them. Two chapters are devoted to each approach: The ?rst is concrete and introductory, whereas the second is more abstract. Thus, the ?rst chapter on Euclid is about straightedge and compass constructions; the second is about axioms and theorems. The ?rst chapter on linear algebra is about coordinates; the second is about vector spaces and the inner product.

Offering a unified exposition of calculus and classical real analysis, this textbook presents a meticulous introduction to single¿variable calculus. Throughout, the exposition makes a distinction between the intrinsic geometric definition of a notion and its analytic characterization, establishing firm foundations for topics often encountered earlier without proof. Each chapter contains numerous examples and a large selection of exercises, as well as a ¿Notes and Comments¿ section, which highlights distinctive features of the exposition and provides additional references to relevant literature.This second edition contains substantial revisions and additions, including several simplified proofs, new sections, and new and revised figures and exercises. A new chapter discusses sequences and series of real¿valued functions of a real variable, and their continuous counterpart: improper integrals depending on a parameter. Two new appendices cover a construction of the real numbers using Cauchy sequences, and a self¿contained proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.In addition to the usual prerequisites for a first course in single¿variable calculus, the reader should possess some mathematical maturity and an ability to understand and appreciate proofs. This textbook can be used for a rigorous undergraduate course in calculus, or as a supplement to a later course in real analysis. The authors¿ A Course in Multivariable Calculus is an ideal companion volume, offering a natural extension of the approach developed here to the multivariable setting.From reviews:[The first edition is] a rigorous, well-presented and original introduction to the core of undergraduate mathematics ¿ first-year calculus. It develops this subject carefully from a foundation of high-school algebra, with interesting improvements and insights rarely found in other books. [¿] This book is a tour de force, and a necessary addition to the library of anyone involved in teaching calculus, or studying it seriously. N.J. Wildberger, Aust. Math. Soc. Gaz.

From reviews of the first edition:"e;In the world of mathematics, the 1980's might well be described as the "e;decade of the fractal"e;. Starting with Benoit Mandelbrot's remarkable text The Fractal Geometry of Nature, there has been a deluge of books, articles and television programmes about the beautiful mathematical objects, drawn by computers using recursive or iterative algorithms, which Mandelbrot christened fractals. Gerald Edgar's book is a significant addition to this deluge. Based on a course given to talented high- school students at Ohio University in 1988, it is, in fact, an advanced undergraduate textbook about the mathematics of fractal geometry, treating such topics as metric spaces, measure theory, dimension theory, and even some algebraic topology...the book also contains many good illustrations of fractals (including 16 color plates)."e;Mathematics Teaching"e;The book can be recommended to students who seriously want to know about the mathematical foundation of fractals, and to lecturers who want to illustrate a standard course in metric topology by interesting examples."e;Christoph Bandt, Mathematical Reviews"e;...not only intended to fit mathematics students who wish to learn fractal geometry from its beginning but also students in computer science who are interested in the subject. Especially, for the last students the author gives the required topics from metric topology and measure theory on an elementary level. The book is written in a very clear style and contains a lot of exercises which should be worked out."e;H.Haase, ZentralblattAbout the second edition: Changes throughout the text, taking into account developments in the subject matter since 1990; Major changes in chapter 6. Since 1990 it has become clear that there are two notions of dimension that play complementary roles, so the emphasis on Hausdorff dimension will be replaced by the two: Hausdorff dimension and packing dimension. 6.1 will remain, but a new section on packing dimension will follow it, then the old sections 6.2--6.4 will be re-written to show both types of dimension; Substantial change in chapter 7: new examples along with recent developments; Sections rewritten to be made clearer and more focused.