The Theory of Algebraic Number Fields

by David Hilbert, I.T. Adamson (Translator), F. Lemmermeyer (Introduction)

A translation of Hilberts "Theorie der algebraischen Zahlkörper" best known as the "Zahlbericht", first published in 1897, in which he provides an elegantly integrated overview of the development of algebraic number theory up to the end of the nineteenth century. The Zahlbericht also provided a firm foundation for further research in the theory, and can be seen as the starting point for all twentieth century investigations into the subject, as well as reciprocity laws and class field theory. This English edition further contains an introduction by F. Lemmermeyer and N. Schappacher.

Hardcover

First published August 20, 1998

About the author

David Hilbert (23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory, the calculus of variations, commutative algebra, algebraic number theory, the foundations of geometry, spectral theory of operators and its application to integral equations, mathematical physics, and the foundations of mathematics (particularly proof theory).

Hilbert adopted and defended Georg Cantor's set theory and transfinite numbers. In 1900, he presented a collection of problems that set the course for much of the mathematical research of the 20th century.

Hilbert and his students contributed significantly to establishing rigor and developed important tools used in modern mathematical physics. Hilbert is known as one of the founders of proof theory and mathematical logic.