Introduction To Mathematical Structures

As a student moves from basic calculus courses into upper-division courses in linear and abstract algebra, real and complex analysis, number theory, topology, and so on, a "bridge" course can help ensure a smooth transition. Introduction to Mathematical Structures and Proofs is a textbook intended for such a course, or for self-study. This book introduces an array of fundamental mathematical structures. It also explores the delicate balance of intuition and rigor—and the flexible thinking—required to prove a nontrivial result. In short, this book seeks to enhance the mathematical maturity of the reader. The new material in this second edition includes a section on graph theory, several new sections on number theory (including primitive roots, with an application to card-shuffling), and a brief introduction to the complex numbers (including a section on the arithmetic of the Gaussian integers). Solutions for even numbered exercises are available on springer.com for instructors adopting the text for a course.

This is a textbook for a one-term course whose goal is to ease the transition from lower-division calculus courses to upper-division courses in linear and abstract algebra, real and complex analysis, number theory, topology, combinatorics, and so on. Without such a "bridge" course, most upper division instructors feel the need to start their courses with the rudiments of logic, set theory, equivalence relations, and other basic mathematical raw materials before getting on with the subject at hand. Students who are new to higher mathematics are often startled to discover that mathematics is a subject of ideas, and not just formulaic rituals, and that they are now expected to understand and create mathematical proofs. Mastery of an assortment of technical tricks may have carried the students through calculus, but it is no longer a guarantee of academic success. Students need experience in working with abstract ideas at a nontrivial level if they are to achieve the sophisticated blend of knowledge, disci pline, and creativity that we call "mathematical maturity. " I don't believe that "theorem-proving" can be taught any more than "question-answering" can be taught. Nevertheless, I have found that it is possible to guide stu dents gently into the process of mathematical proof in such a way that they become comfortable with the experience and begin asking them selves questions that will lead them in the right direction.

'The presentation is modeled on the discursive style of the Bourbaki collective, and the coverage of topics is rich and varied. Grandis has provided a large selection of exercises and has sprinkled orienting comments throughout. For an undergraduate library where strong students seek an overview of a significant portion of mathematics, this would be an excellent acquisition. Summing up: Recommended.'CHOICESince the last century, a large part of Mathematics is concerned with the study of mathematical structures, from groups to fields and vector spaces, from lattices to Boolean algebras, from metric spaces to topological spaces, from topological groups to Banach spaces.More recently, these structured sets and their transformations have been assembled in higher structures, called categories.We want to give a structural overview of these topics, where the basic facts of the different theories are unified through the 'universal properties' that they satisfy, and their particularities stand out, perhaps even more.This book can be used as a textbook for undergraduate studies and for self-study. It can provide students of Mathematics with a unified perspective of subjects which are often kept apart. It is also addressed to students and researchers of disciplines having strong interactions with Mathematics, like Physics and Chemistry, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering.

This book offers an introduction to mathematical proofs and to the fundamentals of modern mathematics. No real prerequisites are needed other than a suitable level of mathematical maturity. The text is divided into two parts, the first of which constitutes the core of a one-semester course covering proofs, predicate calculus, set theory, elementary number theory, relations, and functions, and the second of which applies this material to a more advanced study of selected topics in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and computer science, specifically cardinality, combinatorics, finite-state automata, and graphs. In both parts, deeper and more interesting material is treated in optional sections, and the text has been kept flexible by allowing many different possible courses or emphases based upon different paths through the volume.

This self-contained text covers sets and numbers, elements of set theory, real numbers, the theory of groups, group isomorphism and homomorphism, theory of rings, and polynomial rings. 1969 edition.

This text has been designed as a complete introduction to discrete mathematics, primarily for computer science majors in either a one or two semester course. The topics addressed are of genuine use in computer science, and are presented in a logically coherent fashion. The material has been organized and interrelated to minimize the mass of definitions and the abstraction of some of the theory. For example, relations and directed graphs are treated as two aspects of the same mathematical idea. Whenever possible each new idea uses previously encountered material, and then developed in such a way that it simplifies the more complex ideas that follow.