Algebraic Number Theory and Fermat's Last Theorem

Auteur

Ian Stewart is an emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick and a fellow of the Royal Society. Dr. Stewart has been a recipient of many honours, including the Royal Society's Faraday Medal, the IMA Gold Medal, the AAAS Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award, the LMS/IMA Zeeman Medal, and the University of Warwick Chancellor's Medal. He has published more than 220 scientific papers and numerous books, including several bestsellers co-authored with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen that combine fantasy with nonfiction.

David Tall is an emeritus professor of mathematical thinking at the University of Warwick. Dr. Tall has published numerous mathematics textbooks and more than 200 papers on mathematics and mathematics education. His research interests include cognitive theory, algebra, visualization, mathematical thinking, and mathematics education.

Texte du rabat

Updated to reflect current research and extended to cover more advanced topics as well as the basics, this book introduces fundamental ideas of algebraic numbers and explores one of the most intriguing stories in the history of mathematics-the quest for a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.

Contenu

I. Algebraic Methods. 1. Algebraic Background. 2. Algebraic Numbers. 3. Quadratic and Cyclotomic Fields. 4. Pell's Equation. 5. Factorisation into Irreducibles. 6. Ideals. II. Geometric Methods. 7. Lattices. 8. Minkowski's Theorem. 9. Geometric Representation of Algebraic Numbers. 10. Dirichlet's Units Theorem. 11. Class-Group and Class-Number. III. Number-Theoretic Applications. 12. Computational Methods. 13. Kummer's Special Case of Fermat's Last Theorem. IV. Elliptic Curves and Elliptic Functions. 14. Elliptic Curves. 15. Elliptic Functions. V. Wiles's Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. 16. The Path to the Final Breakthrough. 17. Wiles's Strategy and Subsequent Developments. VI. Galois Theory and Other Topics. 18. Extensions and Galois Theory. 19. Cyclotomic and Cubic Fields. 20. Prime Ideals Revisited. 21. Ramification Theory. 22. Quadratic Reciprocity. 23. Valuations and p-adic Numbers.