Alina Cojocaru / Queen's University, Ontario
Ram Murty / Queen's University, Ontario

An Introduction to Sieve Methods and Their Applications

Series: London Mathematical Society Student Texts
Hardback (ISBN-10: 0521848164 | ISBN-13: 9780521848169)
Paperback (ISBN-10: 0521612756 | ISBN-13: 9780521612753)

Sieve theory has a rich and romantic history. The ancient question of whether there exist infinitely many twin primes (primes p such that p+2 is also prime), and Goldbach's conjecture that every even number can be written as the sum of two prime numbers, have been two of the problems that have inspired the development of the theory. This book provides a motivated introduction to sieve theory. Rather than focus on technical details which can obscure the beauty of the theory, the authors focus on examples and applications, developing the theory in parallel. The text can be used for a senior level undergraduate course or an introductory graduate course in analytic number theory, and non-experts can gain a quick introduction to the techniques of the subject.

* Non-experts can gain a quick introduction to the techniques of Sieve Theory

* Contains many concrete examples and applications

* The book has over 200 exercises

Contents

1. Some basic notions; 2. Some elementary sieves; 3. The normal order method; 4. The Turan sieve; 5. The sieve of Eratosthenes; 6. Brunfs sieve; 7. Selbergfs sieve; 8. The large sieve; 9. The Bombieri-Vinogradov theorem; 10. The lower bound sieve; 11. New directions in sieve theory; Bibliography.


Miles Reid / University of Warwick
Balazs Szendroi / Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands

Geometry and Topology

Hardback (ISBN-10: 052184889X | ISBN-13: 9780521848893)
Paperback (ISBN-10: 0521613256 | ISBN-13: 9780521613255)

Geometry provides a whole range of views on the universe, serving as the inspiration, technical toolkit and ultimate goal for many branches of mathematics and physics. This book introduces the ideas of geometry, and includes a generous supply of simple explanations and examples. The treatment emphasises coordinate systems and the coordinate changes that generate symmetries. The discussion moves from Euclidean to non-Euclidean geometries, including spherical and hyperbolic geometry, and then on to affine and projective linear geometries. Group theory is introduced to treat geometric symmetries, leading to the unification of geometry and group theory in the Erlangen program. An introduction to basic topology follows, with the Mobius strip, the Klein bottle and the surface with g handles exemplifying quotient topologies and the homeomorphism problem. Topology combines with group theory to yield the geometry of transformation groups,having applications to relativity theory and quantum mechanics. A final chapter features historical discussions and indications for further reading. With minimal prerequisites, the book provides a first glimpse of many research topics in modern algebra, geometry and theoretical physics. The book is based on many years' teaching experience, and is thoroughly class-tested. There are copious illustrations, and each chapter ends with a wide supply of exercises. Further teaching material is available for teachers via the web, including assignable problem sheets with solutions.

* Exercises and practical illustrations introduce topics across maths and its applications

* Prerequisites are minimal: ideally suited to beginner courses and newcomers to the subject

* Further teaching material is available for teachers, including assignable problem sheets with solutions

Contents

0. Introduction; 1. Euclidean geometry; 2. Composing maps; 3. Non-Euclidean; 4. Affine geometry; 5. Projective geometry; 6. Geometry and group theory; 7. Topology; 8. Geometry of transformation groups; 9. Concluding remarks; A. Metrics; B. Linear algebra; References; Index.

Thomas A. Severini / Northwestern University, Illinois

Elements of Distribution Theory

Series: Cambridge Series in Statistical and Probabilistic Mathematics
Hardback (ISBN-10: 052184472X | ISBN-13: 9780521844727)

October 2005 | 528 pages | 253 x 177 mm

This detailed introduction to distribution theory uses no measure theory, making it suitable for students in statistics and econometrics as well as for researchers who use statistical methods. Good backgrounds in calculus and linear algebra are important and a course in elementary mathematical analysis is useful, but not required. An appendix gives a detailed summary of the mathematical definitions and results that are used in the book. Topics covered range from the basic distribution and density functions, expectation, conditioning, characteristic functions, cumulants, convergence in distribution and the central limit theorem to more advanced concepts such as exchangeability, models with a group structure, asymptotic approximations to integrals, orthogonal polynomials, and saddlepoint approximations. The emphasis is on topics useful in understanding statistical methodology; thus, parametric statistical models and the distribution theory associated with the normal distribution are covered comprehensively.

* Provides a comprehensive discussion of the major results of distribution theory at a level not requiring advanced probability theory

* There are over 300 examples and 340 exercises, and it contains detailed proofs of nearly every result

* The topics are chosen in order to prepare the reader for advanced study in statistics, rather than distribution or probability theory easy to understand

Contents

1. Properties of probability distributions; 2. Conditional distributions and expectation; 3. Characteristic functions; 4. Moments and cumulants; 5. Parametric families of distributions; 6. Stochastic processes; 7. Distribution theory for functions of random variables; 8. Normal distribution theory; 9. Approximation of integrals; 10. Orthogonal polynomials; 11. Approximation of probability distributions; 12. Central limit theorems; 13. Approximation to the distributions of more general statistics; 14. Higher-order asymptotic approximations.

K R Parthasarathy,
Indian Statistical Institute,New Delhi

Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

Text and Readings in Mathematics/ 35

October 2005
184 pages
Hardcover
ISBN 81-85931-59-3

This book is based on a course of lectures given to PhD students at the Delhi Centre of the Indian Statistical Institute during the years 1980-1985. The approach is inspired by the lectures of G.W.Mackey and V.S.Varadarajan and brings out the role of group representations as the main thread passing through some major results like Gleason's theorem on the characterization of quantum states, Wigner's unitarity-antiunitarity theorem on the automorphisms of the lattice of orthogonal projections in a Hilbert space, Mackey's imprimitivity theorem for quantum systems with a configuration observable, and the rise of important and physically meaningful observables through the infinitesimal generators of projective unitary representations of the Galilean and the inhomogeneous Lorentz groups.

Contents

Chapter 1. PROBABILITY THEORY ON THE LATTICE OF PROJECTIONS IN A HILBERT SPACE

Chapter 2. SYSTEMS WITH A CONFIGURATION UNDER A GROUP ACTION

Chapter 3. MULTIPLIERS ON LOCALLY COMPACT GROUPS

Chapter 4. THE BASIC OBSERVABLES OF A QUANTUM MECHANICAL SYSTEM

Bibliography