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The Theory of Algebraic Numbers
Detailed proofs and clear-cut explanations provide an excellent introduction to the elementary components of classical algebraic number theory in this concise, well-written volume.
The authors, a pair of noted mathematicians, start with a discussion of divisibility and proceed to examine Gaussian primes (their determination and role in Fermat's theorem); polynomials over a field (including the Eisenstein irreducibility criterion); algebraic number fields; bases (finite extensions, conjugates and discriminants, and the cyclotomic field); and algebraic integers and integral bases. After establishing a firm introductory foundation, the text explores the uses of arithmetic in algebraic number fields; the fundamental theorem of ideal theory and its consequences; ideal classes and class numbers; and the Fermat conjecture (concluding with discussions of Pythagorean triples, units in cyclotomic fields, and Kummer's theorem).
In addition to a helpful list of symbols and an index, a set of carefully chosen problems appears at the end of each chapter to reinforce mathematics covered. Students and teachers of undergraduate mathematics courses will find this volume a first-rate introduction to algebraic number theory.
The authors, a pair of noted mathematicians, start with a discussion of divisibility and proceed to examine Gaussian primes (their determination and role in Fermat's theorem); polynomials over a field (including the Eisenstein irreducibility criterion); algebraic number fields; bases (finite extensions, conjugates and discriminants, and the cyclotomic field); and algebraic integers and integral bases. After establishing a firm introductory foundation, the text explores the uses of arithmetic in algebraic number fields; the fundamental theorem of ideal theory and its consequences; ideal classes and class numbers; and the Fermat conjecture (concluding with discussions of Pythagorean triples, units in cyclotomic fields, and Kummer's theorem).
In addition to a helpful list of symbols and an index, a set of carefully chosen problems appears at the end of each chapter to reinforce mathematics covered. Students and teachers of undergraduate mathematics courses will find this volume a first-rate introduction to algebraic number theory.
- GenresMathematics
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 28, 1975
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October 7, 2016
An excellent introduction to a fascinating area of abstract algebra. The style is somewhat unconventional but the treatment is rigorous. The crucial theme throughout is uniqueness of factorization: it holds for the rational integers (a subring of the rational numbers) and the Gaussian integers (a subring of the rational complex numbers), but for which other algebraic integers – subrings of other algebraic-number fields – does it also hold? The journey takes the reader to the fundamental theorem of ideal theory and culminates with Kummer’s proof of Fermat’s last theorem (still only a conjecture at the time of publication of the book) in certain special cases.
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