Aimed at mathematicians and computer scientists who will only be exposed to one course in this area, Computability: A Mathematical Sketchbook provides a brief but rigorous introduction to the abstract theory of computation, sometimes also referred to as recursion theory. It develops major themes in computability theory, such as Rice's theorem and the recursion theorem, and provides a systematic account of Blum's complexity theory as well as an introduction to the theory of computable real numbers and functions. The book is intended as a university text, but it may also be used...

In the introduction to the first volume of The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves (Springer-Verlag, 1986), I observed that "the theory of elliptic curves is rich, varied, and amazingly vast," and as a consequence, "many important topics had to be omitted." I included a brief introduction to ten additional topics as an appendix to the first volume, with the tacit understanding that eventually there might be a second volume containing the details. You are now holding that second volume. it turned out that even those ten topics would not fit Unfortunately, into a single book, so I was forced to make...

This text aims to show that mathematics is useful to virtually everyone. And it seeks to accomplish this by offering the reader plenty of practice in elementary mathematical computations motivated by real-world problems. The prerequisite for this book is a little algebra and geometry-nothing more than entrance requirements at most colleges. I hope that users-especially those who "don't like math"-will complete the course with greater confidence in their ability to solve practical problems (without seeking help from someone who is "good at math"). Here is a sampler of some of the problems to...

A Course in the Theory of Groups is a comprehensive introduction to the theory of groups - finite and infinite, commutative and non-commutative. Presupposing only a basic knowledge of modern algebra, it introduces the reader to the different branches of group theory and to its principal accomplishments. While stressing the unity of group theory, the book also draws attention to connections with other areas of algebra such as ring theory and homological algebra.
This new edition has been updated at various points, some proofs have been improved, and lastly about thirty additional...

Although the calculus of variations has ancient origins in questions of Ar- istotle and Zenodoros, its mathematical principles first emerged in the post- calculus investigations of Newton, the Bernoullis, Euler, and Lagrange. Its results now supply fundamental tools of exploration to both mathematicians and those in the applied sciences. (Indeed, the macroscopic statements ob- tained through variational principles may provide the only valid mathemati- cal formulations of many physical laws. ) Because of its classical origins, variational calculus retains the spirit of natural philosophy...

Permutation Groups form one of the oldest parts of group theory. Through the ubiquity of group actions and the concrete representations which they afford, both finite and infinite permutation groups arise in many parts of mathematics and continue to be a lively topic of research in their own right. The book begins with the basic ideas, standard constructions and important examples in the theory of permutation groups.It then develops the combinatorial and group theoretic structure of primitive groups leading to the proof of the pivotal O'Nan-Scott Theorem which links finite primitive groups...

This is a textbook suitable for a year-long course in analysis at the ad- vanced undergraduate or possibly beginning-graduate level. It is intended for students with a strong background in calculus and linear algebra, and a strong motivation to learn mathematics for its own sake. At this stage of their education, such students are generally given a course in abstract algebra, and a course in analysis, which give the fundamentals of these two areas, as mathematicians today conceive them. Mathematics is now a subject splintered into many specialties and sub- specialties, but most of it can be...

This book is intended to introduce coding theory and information theory to undergraduate students of mathematics and computer science. It begins with a review of probablity theory as applied to finite sample spaces and a general introduction to the nature and types of codes. The two subsequent chapters discuss information theory: efficiency of codes, the entropy of information sources, and Shannon's Noiseless Coding Theorem. The remaining three chapters deal with coding theory: communication channels, decoding in the presence of errors, the general theory of linear codes, and such specific...

Operator theory is a diverse area of mathematics which derives its impetus and motivation from several sources. It began with the study of integral equations and now includes the study of operators and collections of operators arising in various branches of physics and mechanics. The intention of this book is to discuss certain advanced topics in operator theory and to provide the necessary background for them assuming only the standard senior-first year graduate courses in general topology, measure theory, and algebra. At the end of each chapter there are source notes which suggest...

reason for delaying its study has to do with the question of mathematical maturity. * No use is made here of trigonometric, logarithmic, or expo- nential functions except in occasional optional material indicating how such functions can be handled. A perceptive remark made by George P6lya suggests how we can simultaneously learn mathematics and learn "about" mathematics-i.e., about the nature of mathematics and how it is developed: If the learning of mathematics reflects to any degree the invention of mathematics, it must have a place for guessing, for plausible inference. The reader will...