Edited by: Michael Rosen, Brown University, Providence, RI

Exposition by Emil Artin: A Selection

History of Mathematics, Volume: 30
2006; approx. 343 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-4172-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-4172-3

Emil Artin was one of the great mathematicians of the twentieth century. He had the rare distinction of having solved two of the famous problems posed by David Hilbert in 1900. He showed that every positive definite rational function of several variables was a sum of squares. He also discovered and proved the Artin reciprocity law, the culmination of over a century and a half of progress in algebraic number theory.

Artin had a great influence on the development of mathematics in his time, both by means of his many contributions to research and by the high level and excellence of his teaching and expository writing. In this volume we gather together in one place a selection of his writings wherein the reader can learn some beautiful mathematics as seen through the eyes of a true master.

The volume's Introduction provides a short biographical sketch of Emil Artin, followed by an introduction to the books and papers included in the volume. The reader will first find three of Artin's short books, titled The Gamma Function, Galois Theory, and Theory of Algebraic Numbers, respectively. These are followed by papers on algebra, algebraic number theory, real fields, braid groups, and complex and functional analysis. The three papers on real fields have been translated into English for the first time.

The flavor of these works is best captured by the following quote of Richard Brauer. "There are a number of books and sets of lecture notes by Emil Artin. Each of them presents a novel approach. There are always new ideas and new results. It was a compulsion for him to present each argument in its purest form, to replace computation by conceptual arguments, to strip the theory of unnecessary ballast. What was the decisive point for him was to show the beauty of the subject to the reader."

Copublished with the London Mathematical Society beginning with Volume 4. Members of the LMS may order directly from the AMS at the AMS member price. The LMS is registered with the Charity Commissioners.

Readership

Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and research mathematicians interested in number theory and related topics in the history of mathematics.

Table of Contents

M. Rosen -- Introduction

Books by Emil Artin

E. Artin -- The Gamma Function
E. Artin -- Galois Theory
E. Artin -- Theory of Algebraic Numbers

Papers by Emil Artin

E. Artin and G. Whaples -- Axiomatic characterization of fields by the product formula for valuations
E. Artin and G. Whaples -- A note on axiomatic characterization of fields
E. Artin -- A characterization of the field of real algebraic numbers
E. Artin and O. Schreier -- The algebraic construction of real fields
E. Artin and O. Schreier -- A characterization of real closed fields
E. Artin -- The theory of braids
E. Artin -- Theory of braids
E. Artin -- On the theory of complex functions
E. Artin -- A proof of the Krein-Milman theorem
E. Artin -- The influence of J. H. M. Wedderburn on the development of modern algebra

Oscar Zariski
with an appendix by Bernard Teissier Translated by Ben Lichtin

The Moduli Problem for Plane Branches

University Lecture Series, Volume: 39
2006; 151 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-2983-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-2983-7

Moduli problems in algebraic geometry date back to Riemann's famous count of the 3g-3 parameters needed to determine a curve of genus g. In this book, Zariski studies the moduli space of curves of the same equisingularity class. After setting up and reviewing the basic material, Zariski devotes one chapter to the topology of the moduli space, including an explicit determination of the rare cases when the space is compact. Chapter V looks at specific examples where the dimension of the generic component can be determined through rather concrete methods. Zariski's last chapter concerns the application of deformation theory to the moduli problem, including the determination of the dimension of the generic component for a particular family of curves.

An appendix by Bernard Teissier reconsiders the moduli problem from the point of view of deformation theory. He gives new proofs of some of Zariski's results, as well as a natural construction of a compactification of the moduli space.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in algebraic geometry, especially moduli questions, and singularities.

Table of Contents


I. Martin Isaacs, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Character Theory of Finite Groups

2006; 303 pp; hardcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-4229-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-4229-4

Character theory is a powerful tool for understanding finite groups. In particular, the theory has been a key ingredient in the classification of finite simple groups. Characters are also of interest in their own right, and their properties are closely related to properties of the structure of the underlying group.

The book begins by developing the module theory of complex group algebras. After the module-theoretic foundations are laid in the first chapter, the focus is primarily on characters. This enhances the accessibility of the material for students, which was a major consideration in the writing. Also with students in mind, a large number of problems are included, many of them quite challenging.

In addition to the development of the basic theory (using a cleaner notation than previously), a number of more specialized topics are covered with accessible presentations. These include projective representations, the basics of the Schur index, irreducible character degrees and group structure, complex linear groups, exceptional characters, and a fairly extensive introduction to blocks and Brauer characters.

This is a corrected reprint of the original 1976 version, later reprinted by Dover. Since 1976 it has become the standard reference for character theory, appearing in the bibliography of almost every research paper in the subject. It is largely self-contained, requiring of the reader only the most basic facts of linear algebra, group theory, Galois theory and ring and module theory.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in finite groups, character theory, and representation theory.

Table of Contents

Algebras, modules, and representations
Group representations and characters
Characters and integrality
Products of characters
Induced characters
Normal subgroups
T.I. sets and exceptional characters
Brauer's theorem
Changing the field
The Schur index
Projective representations
Character degrees
Character correspondence
Linear groups
Changing the characteristic
Some character tables
Bibliographic notes
References
Index

Edited by: Vadim B. Kuznetsov, and Siddhartha Sahi, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

Jack, Hall-Littlewood and Macdonald Polynomials

Contemporary Mathematics, Volume: 417
2006; 360 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-3683-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-3683-5

The subject of symmetric functions began with the work of Jacobi, Schur, Weyl, Young and others on the Schur polynomials. In the 1950's and 60's, far-reaching generalizations of Schur polynomials were obtained by Hall and Littlewood (independently) and, in a different direction, by Jack. In the 1980's, Macdonald unified these developments by introducing a family of polynomials associated with arbitrary root systems.

The last twenty years have witnessed considerable progress in this area, revealing new and profound connections with representation theory, algebraic geometry, combinatorics, special functions, classical analysis and mathematical physics. All these fields and more are represented in this volume, which contains the proceedings of a conference on "Jack, Hall-Littlewood and Macdonald polynomials" held at ICMS, Edinburgh, during September 23-26, 2003.

In addition to new results by leading researchers, the book contains a wealth of historical material, including brief biographies of Hall, Littlewood, Jack and Macdonald; the original papers of Littlewood and Jack; notes on Hall's work by Macdonald; and a recently discovered unpublished manuscript by Jack (annotated by Macdonald). The book will be invaluable to students and researchers who wish to learn about this beautiful and exciting subject.

Readership

Research mathematicians interested in algebraic combinatorics.

Table of Contents

Part 1. Historic Material
B. D. Sleeman -- Henry Jack 1917-1978
A. O. Morris -- Philip Hall
A. O. Morris -- Dudley Ernest Littlewood
A. O. Morris -- Ian Macdonald
I. G. Macdonald -- The algebra of partitions
D. E. Littlewood -- On certain symmetric functions
H. Jack -- A class of symmetric polynomials with a parameter
H. Jack -- A class of polynomials in search of a definition, or the symmetric group parametrized
I. G. Macdonald -- Commentary on the previous paper
H. Jack, G. de B. Robinson, and W. N. Everitt -- First letter from Henry Jack to G. de B. Robinson/Second letter reply from G. de B. Robinson to Henry Jack/Third letter from W. N. Everitt to G. de B. Robinson
Part 2. Research Articles
H. Coskun and R. A. Gustafson -- Well-poised Macdonald functions W_{lambda} and Jackson coefficients omega_lambda on BC_n
J. F. van Diejen -- Asymptotics of multivariate orthogonal polynomials with hyperoctahedral symmetry
P. Etingof and A. Oblomkov -- Quantization, orbifold cohomology, and Cherednik algebras
B. Ion and S. Sahi -- Triple groups and Cherednik algebras
M. Kasatani, T. Miwa, A. N. Sergeev, and A. P. Veselov -- Coincident root loci and Jack and Macdonald polynomials for special values of the parameters
T. H. Koornwinder -- Lowering and raising operators for some special orthogonal polynomials
V. B. Kuznetsov and E. K. Sklyanin -- Factorization of symmetric polynomials
E. Langmann -- A method to derive explicit formulas for an elliptic generalization of the Jack polynomials
M. Lassalle -- A short proof of generalized Jacobi-Trudi expansions for Macdonald polynomials
A. Okounkov and G. Olshanski -- Limits of BC-type orthogonal polynomials as the number of variables goes to infinity
E. M. Rains -- A difference-integral representation of Koornwinder polynomials
M. Schlosser -- Explicit computation of the q,t-Littlewood-Richardson coefficients
V. P. Spiridonov -- A multiparameter summation formula for Riemann theta functions
Part 3. Vadim Borisovich Kuznetsov 1963-2005
B. D. Sleeman and E. K. Sklyanin -- Vadim Borisovich Kuznetsov 1963-2005

Edited by: Lothar Gerritzen, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Germany, Dorian Goldfeld, Columbia University, New York, NY, Martin Kreuzer and Gerhard Rosenberger, Universitat Dortmund, Germany, and Vladimir Shpilrain, The City College of New York, NY

Algebraic Methods in Cryptography

Contemporary Mathematics, Volume: 418
2006; 178 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-4037-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-4037-5

The book consists of contributions related mostly to public-key cryptography, including the design of new cryptographic primitives as well as cryptanalysis of previously suggested schemes. Most papers are original research papers in the area that can be loosely defined as "non-commutative cryptography"; this means that groups (or other algebraic structures) which are used as platforms are non-commutative.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in algebraic methods in cryptography.

Table of Contents

I. Anshel, M. Anshel, D. Goldfeld, and S. Lemieux -- Key agreement, the Algebraic Eraser^{TM}, and lightweight cryptography
G. Baumslag, T. Camps, B. Fine, G. Rosenberger, and X. Xu -- Designing key transport protocols using combinatorial group theory
A. Berenstein and L. Chernyak -- Geometric key establishment
P. Dehornoy -- Using shifted conjugacy in braid-based cryptography
D. Garber, S. Kaplan, M. Teicher, B. Tsaban, and U. Vishne -- Length-based conjugacy search in the braid group
M. I. Gonzalez Vasco, R. Steinwandt, and J. L. Villar -- Towards provable security for cryptographic constructions arising from combinatorial group theory
D. Grigoriev and I. Ponomarenko -- Constructions in public-key cryptography over matrix groups
A. Groch, D. Hofheinz, and R. Steinwandt -- A practical attack on the root problem in braid groups
D. Hofheinz and D. Unruh -- An attack on a group-based cryptoraphic scheme
N. G. Leander -- Algebraic problems in symmetric cryptography: Two recent results on highly nonlinear functions
E. Lee -- Inverting the Burau and Lawrence-Krammer representations
V. Shpilrain and A. Ushakov -- A new key exchange protocol based on the decomposition problem
V. Shpilrain and G. Zapata -- Using the subgroup membership search problem in public key cryptography