Rings Fields And Groups

Provides an introduction to the results, methods and ideas which are now commonly studied in abstract algebra courses

This is a basic introduction to modern algebra, providing a solid understanding of the axiomatic treatment of groups and then rings, aiming to promote a feeling for the evolutionary and historical development of the subject. It includes problems and fully worked solutions, enabling readers to master the subject rather than simply observing it.

Insightful overview of many kinds of algebraic structures that are ubiquitous in mathematics. For researchers at graduate level and beyond.

This book provides a stimulating and unusiual introduction to the results, methods and ideas which are now commonly studied in abstract algebra courses in universities and polytechnics. The mixture of informal and formal presentation generates the enthusiasm of the reader without neglecting the axiomatic approach necessary for the serious study.

This text—based on the author's popular courses at Pomona College—provides a readable, student-friendly, and somewhat sophisticated introduction to abstract algebra. It is aimed at sophomore or junior undergraduates who are seeing the material for the first time. In addition to the usual definitions and theorems, there is ample discussion to help students build intuition and learn how to think about the abstract concepts. The book has over 1300 exercises and mini-projects of varying degrees of difficulty, and, to facilitate active learning and self-study, hints and short answers for many of the problems are provided. There are full solutions to over 100 problems in order to augment the text and to model the writing of solutions. Lattice diagrams are used throughout to visually demonstrate results and proof techniques. The book covers groups, rings, and fields. In group theory, group actions are the unifying theme and are introduced early. Ring theory is motivated by what is needed for solving Diophantine equations, and, in field theory, Galois theory and the solvability of polynomials take center stage. In each area, the text goes deep enough to demonstrate the power of abstract thinking and to convince the reader that the subject is full of unexpected results.

This text presents the concepts of higher algebra in a comprehensive and modern way for self-study and as a basis for a high-level undergraduate course. The author is one of the preeminent researchers in this field and brings the reader up to the recent frontiers of research including never-before-published material. From the table of contents: - Groups: Monoids and Groups - Cauchyís Theorem - Normal Subgroups - Classifying Groups - Finite Abelian Groups - Generators and Relations - When Is a Group a Group? (Cayley's Theorem) - Sylow Subgroups - Solvable Groups - Rings and Polynomials: An Introduction to Rings - The Structure Theory of Rings - The Field of Fractions - Polynomials and Euclidean Domains - Principal Ideal Domains - Famous Results from Number Theory - I Fields: Field Extensions - Finite Fields - The Galois Correspondence - Applications of the Galois Correspondence - Solving Equations by Radicals - Transcendental Numbers: e and p - Skew Field Theory - Each chapter includes a set of exercises

Most abstract algebra texts begin with groups, then proceed to rings and fields. While groups are the logically simplest of the structures, the motivation for studying groups can be somewhat lost on students approaching abstract algebra for the first time. To engage and motivate them, starting with something students know and abstracting from there

This is the first in a series of three volumes dealing with important topics in algebra. It offers an introduction to the foundations of mathematics together with the fundamental algebraic structures, namely groups, rings, fields, and arithmetic. Intended as a text for undergraduate and graduate students of mathematics, it discusses all major topics in algebra with numerous motivating illustrations and exercises to enable readers to acquire a good understanding of the basic algebraic structures, which they can then use to find the exact or the most realistic solutions to their problems.