Bøker i London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series-serien

Hilbert C*-modules are objects like Hilbert spaces, except that the inner product, instead of being complex valued, takes its values in a C*-algebra. The theory of these modules, together with their bounded and unbounded operators, is not only rich and attractive in its own right but forms an infrastructure for some of the most important research topics in operator algebras. This book is based on a series of lectures given by Professor Lance at a summer school at the University of Trondheim. It provides, for the first time, a clear and unified exposition of the main techniques and results in this area, including a substantial amount of new and unpublished material. It will be welcomed as an excellent resource for all graduate students and researchers working in operator algebras.

This book provides a detailed but concise account of the theory of structure of finite p-groups admitting p-automorphisms with few fixed points. The relevant preliminary material on Lie rings is introduced and the main theorems of the book on the solubility of finite p-groups are then presented. The proofs involve notions such as viewing automorphisms as linear transformations, associated Lie rings, powerful p-groups, and the correspondences of A. I. Mal'cev and M. Lazard given by the Baker-Hausdorff formula. Many exercises are included. This book is suitable for graduate students and researchers working in the fields of group theory and Lie rings.

The arithmetic properties of modular forms and elliptic curves lie at the heart of modern number theory. This book develops a generalisation of the method of Euler systems to a two-variable deformation ring. The resulting theory is then used to study the arithmetic of elliptic curves, in particular the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer (BSD) formula. Three main steps are outlined: the first is to parametrise 'big' cohomology groups using (deformations of) modular symbols. Finiteness results for big Selmer groups are then established. Finally, at weight two, the arithmetic invariants of these Selmer groups allow the control of data from the BSD conjecture. As the first book on the subject, the material is introduced from scratch; both graduate students and professional number theorists will find this an ideal introduction. Material at the very forefront of current research is included, and numerical examples encourage the reader to interpret abstract theorems in concrete cases.

A thorough account of the methods that underlie the theory of subalgebras of finite von Neumann algebras, this book contains a substantial amount of current research material and is ideal for those studying operator algebras. The conditional expectation, basic construction and perturbations within a finite von Neumann algebra with a fixed faithful normal trace are discussed in detail. The general theory of maximal abelian self-adjoint subalgebras (masas) of separable II1 factors is presented with illustrative examples derived from group von Neumann algebras. The theory of singular masas and Sorin Popa's methods of constructing singular and semi-regular masas in general separable II1 factor are explored. Appendices cover the ultrapower of a II1 factor and the properties of unbounded operators required for perturbation results. Proofs are given in considerable detail and standard basic examples are provided, making the book understandable to postgraduates with basic knowledge of von Neumann algebra theory.

Twistor theory has become a diverse subject as it has spread from its origins in theoretical physics to applications in pure mathematics. This 1990 collection of review articles covers the considerable progress made in a wide range of applications such as relativity, integrable systems, differential and integral geometry and representation theory. The articles explore the wealth of geometric ideas which provide the unifying themes in twistor theory, from Penrose's quasi-local mass construction in relativity, to the study of conformally invariant differential operators, using techniques of representation theory.

This introduction to random walks on infinite graphs gives particular emphasis to graphs with polynomial volume growth. It offers an overview of analytic methods, starting with the connection between random walks and electrical resistance, and then proceeding to study the use of isoperimetric and Poincare inequalities. The book presents rough isometries and looks at the properties of a graph that are stable under these transformations. Applications include the 'type problem': determining whether a graph is transient or recurrent. The final chapters show how geometric properties of the graph can be used to establish heat kernel bounds, that is, bounds on the transition probabilities of the random walk, and it is proved that Gaussian bounds hold for graphs that are roughly isometric to Euclidean space. Aimed at graduate students in mathematics, the book is also useful for researchers as a reference for results that are hard to find elsewhere.

This is the first book to link the mod 2 Steenrod algebra, a classical object of study in algebraic topology, with modular representations of matrix groups over the field F of two elements. The link is provided through a detailed study of Peterson's 'hit problem' concerning the action of the Steenrod algebra on polynomials, which remains unsolved except in special cases. The topics range from decompositions of integers as sums of 'powers of 2 minus 1', to Hopf algebras and the Steinberg representation of GL(n,F). Volume 1 develops the structure of the Steenrod algebra from an algebraic viewpoint and can be used as a graduate-level textbook. Volume 2 broadens the discussion to include modular representations of matrix groups.

Permutation groups, their fundamental theory and applications are discussed in this introductory book. It focuses on those groups that are most useful for studying symmetric structures such as graphs, codes and designs. Modern treatments of the O'Nan-Scott theory are presented not only for primitive permutation groups but also for the larger families of quasiprimitive and innately transitive groups, including several classes of infinite permutation groups. Their precision is sharpened by the introduction of a cartesian decomposition concept. This facilitates reduction arguments for primitive groups analogous to those, using orbits and partitions, that reduce problems about general permutation groups to primitive groups. The results are particularly powerful for finite groups, where the finite simple group classification is invoked. Applications are given in algebra and combinatorics to group actions that preserve cartesian product structures. Students and researchers with an interest in mathematical symmetry will find the book enjoyable and useful.

Bringing together over twenty years of research, this book gives a complete overview of independence-friendly logic. It emphasizes the game-theoretical approach to logic, according to which logical concepts such as truth and falsity are best understood via the notion of semantic games. The book pushes the paradigm of game-theoretical semantics further than the current literature by showing how mixed strategies and equilibria can be used to analyze independence-friendly formulas on finite models. The book is suitable for graduate students and advanced undergraduates who have taken a course on first-order logic. It contains a primer of the necessary background in game theory, numerous examples and full proofs.

This book presents methods and results from the theory of Zariski structures and discusses their applications in geometry as well as various other mathematical fields. Its logical approach helps us understand why algebraic geometry is so fundamental throughout mathematics and why the extension to noncommutative geometry, which has been forced by recent developments in quantum physics, is both natural and necessary. Beginning with a crash course in model theory, this book will suit not only model theorists but also readers with a more classical geometric background.

After a forty-year lull, the study of word-values in groups has sprung back into life with some spectacular new results in finite group theory. These are largely motivated by applications to profinite groups, including the solution of an old problem of Serre. This book presents a comprehensive account of the known results, both old and new. The more elementary methods are developed from scratch, leading to self-contained proofs and improvements of some classic results about infinite soluble groups. This is followed by a detailed introduction to more advanced topics in finite group theory, and a full account of the applications to profinite groups. The author presents proofs of some very recent results and discusses open questions for further research. This self-contained account is accessible to research students, but will interest all research workers in group theory.

The Woods Hole trace formula is a Lefschetz fixed-point theorem for coherent cohomology on algebraic varieties. It leads to a version of the sheaves-functions dictionary of Deligne, relating characteristic-p-valued functions on the rational points of varieties over finite fields to coherent modules equipped with a Frobenius structure. This book begins with a short introduction to the homological theory of crystals of Bockle and Pink with the aim of introducing the sheaves-functions dictionary as quickly as possible, illustrated with elementary examples and classical applications. Subsequently, the theory and results are expanded to include infinite coefficients, L-functions, and applications to special values of Goss L-functions and zeta functions. Based on lectures given at the Morningside Center in Beijing in 2013, this book serves as both an introduction to the Woods Hole trace formula and the sheaves-functions dictionary, and to some advanced applications on characteristic p zeta values.

This comprehensive monograph is ideal for established researchers in the field and also graduate students who wish to learn more about the subject. The text is made accessible to a broad audience as it does not require any knowledge of Lie groups and only a limited knowledge of differential geometry. The author's primary emphasis is on potential theory on the hyperbolic ball, but many other relevant results for the hyperbolic upper half-space are included both in the text and in the end-of-chapter exercises. These exercises expand on the topics covered in the chapter and involve routine computations and inequalities not included in the text. The book also includes some open problems, which may be a source for potential research projects.

This study of graded rings includes the first systematic account of the graded Grothendieck group, a powerful and crucial invariant in algebra which has recently been adopted to classify the Leavitt path algebras. The book begins with a concise introduction to the theory of graded rings and then focuses in more detail on Grothendieck groups, Morita theory, Picard groups and K-theory. The author extends known results in the ungraded case to the graded setting and gathers together important results which are currently scattered throughout the literature. The book is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers in ring theory.

A careful and accessible exposition of a functional analytic approach to initial boundary value problems for semilinear parabolic differential equations, with a focus on the relationship between analytic semigroups and initial boundary value problems. This semigroup approach is distinguished by the extensive use of the ideas and techniques characteristic of the recent developments in the theory of pseudo-differential operators, one of the most influential works in the modern history of analysis. Complete with ample illustrations and additional references, this new edition offers both streamlined analysis and better coverage of important examples and applications. A powerful method for the study of elliptic boundary value problems, capable of further extensive development, is provided for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students, as well as mathematicians with an interest in functional analysis and partial differential equations.

The language of ends and (co)ends provides a natural and general way of expressing many phenomena in category theory, in the abstract and in applications. Yet although category-theoretic methods are now widely used by mathematicians, since (co)ends lie just beyond a first course in category theory, they are typically only used by category theorists, for whom they are something of a secret weapon. This book is the first systematic treatment of the theory of (co)ends. Aimed at a wide audience, it presents the (co)end calculus as a powerful tool to clarify and simplify definitions and results in category theory and export them for use in diverse areas of mathematics and computer science. It is organised as an easy-to-cite reference manual, and will be of interest to category theorists and users of category theory alike.

This is the first book to link the mod 2 Steenrod algebra, a classical object of study in algebraic topology, with modular representations of matrix groups over the field F of two elements. The link is provided through a detailed study of Peterson's `hit problem' concerning the action of the Steenrod algebra on polynomials, which remains unsolved except in special cases. The topics range from decompositions of integers as sums of 'powers of 2 minus 1', to Hopf algebras and the Steinberg representation of GL(n, F). Volume 1 develops the structure of the Steenrod algebra from an algebraic viewpoint and can be used as a graduate-level textbook. Volume 2 broadens the discussion to include modular representations of matrix groups.

Markov chains and hidden Markov chains have applications in many areas of engineering and genomics. This book provides a basic introduction to the subject by first developing the theory of Markov processes in an elementary discrete time, finite state framework suitable for senior undergraduates and graduates. The authors then introduce semi-Markov chains and hidden semi-Markov chains, before developing related estimation and filtering results. Genomics applications are modelled by discrete observations of these hidden semi-Markov chains. This book contains new results and previously unpublished material not available elsewhere. The approach is rigorous and focused on applications.

This volume contains eight survey articles by the invited speakers of the 29th British Combinatorial Conference, held at Lancaster University in July 2022. Each article provides an overview of recent developments in a current hot research topic in combinatorics. These topics span graphs and hypergraphs, Latin squares, linear programming, finite fields, extremal combinatorics, Ramsey theory, graph minors and tropical geometry. The authors are among the world's foremost researchers on their respective topics but their surveys are aimed at nonspecialist readers: they are written clearly with little prior knowledge assumed and with pointers to the wider literature. Taken together these surveys give a snapshot of the research frontier in contemporary combinatorics, making the latest developments accessible to researchers and graduate students in mathematics and theoretical computer science with an interest in combinatorics and helping them to keep abreast of the field.

"Discrete quantum walks are quantum analogues of classical random walks. They are an important tool in quantum computing and a number of algorithms can be viewed as discrete quantum walks, in particular Grover's search algorithm. These walks are constructed on an underlying graph, and so there is a relation between properties of walks and properties of the graph. This book studies the mathematical problems that arise from this connection, and the different classes of walks that arise. Written at a level suitable for graduate students in mathematics, the only prerequisites are linear algebra and basic graph theory; no prior knowledge of physics is required. The text serves as an introduction to this important and rapidly developing area for mathematicians and as a detailed reference for computer scientists and physicists working on quantum information theory"--

Written to honour Miles Reid's 70th birthday, this volume contains contemporary research, both concrete and theoretical, spanning Reid's interests and career. Its definitive accounts of the state of the art in foundational areas will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in algebraic geometry, birational geometry and mirror symmetry.

This volume comprises the invited lectures given at the 14th British Combinatorial Conference. The lectures survey many topical areas of current research activity in combinatorics and its applications, and also provide a valuable overview of the subject, for both mathematicians and computer scientists.

Together, Sets and Proofs and its sister volume Models and Computability will provide readers with a comprehensive guide to mathematical logic. All the authors are leaders in their fields and are drawn from the invited speakers at 'Logic Colloquium '97' (the major international meeting of the Association of Symbolic Logic). It is expected that the breadth and timeliness of these two volumes will prove an invaluable and unique resource for specialists, post-graduate researchers, and the informed and interested nonspecialist.

This book determines whether the general member of each family of smooth Fano threefolds admits a Kahler-Einstein metric, using K-stability. Complemented by appendices outlining results needed to understand this active area, it will be essential reading for researchers and graduate students working on algebraic and complex geometry.

"This text provides a unique overview of the Maurer-Cartan methods in algebra, geometry, topology, and mathematical physics, offering a new conceptual treatment of the twisting procedure. It includes many motivating examples to render the theory accessible to graduate students, as well as a survey of recent applications"--

Schemes in algebraic geometry can have singular points, whereas differential geometers typically focus on manifolds which are nonsingular. However, there is a class of schemes, 'C¿-schemes', which allow differential geometers to study a huge range of singular spaces, including 'infinitesimals' and infinite-dimensional spaces. These are applied in synthetic differential geometry, and derived differential geometry, the study of 'derived manifolds'. Differential geometers also study manifolds with corners. The cube is a 3-dimensional manifold with corners, with boundary the six square faces. This book introduces 'C¿-schemes with corners', singular spaces in differential geometry with good notions of boundary and corners. They can be used to define 'derived manifolds with corners' and 'derived orbifolds with corners'. These have applications to major areas of symplectic geometry involving moduli spaces of J-holomorphic curves. This work will be a welcome source of information and inspiration for graduate students and researchers working in differential or algebraic geometry.