The importance of mathematics competitions has been widely recognized for three reasons: they help to develop imaginative capacity and thinking skills whose value far transcends mathematics; they constitute the most effective way of discovering and nurturing mathematical talent; and they provide a means to combat the prevalent false image of mathematics held by high school students, as either a fearsomely difficult or a dull and uncreative subject. This book provides a comprehensive training resource for competitions from local and provincial to national Olympiad level, containing hundreds of diagrams, and graced by many light-hearted cartoons. It features a large collection of what mathematicians call "beautiful" problems - non-routine, provocative, fascinating, and challenging problems, often with elegant solutions. It features careful, systematic exposition of a selection of the most important topics encountered in mathematics competitions, assuming little prior knowledge. Geometry, trigonometry, mathematical induction, inequalities, Diophantine equations, number theory, sequences and series, the binomial theorem, and combinatorics - are all developed in a gentle but lively manner, liberally illustrated with examples, and consistently motivated by attractive "appetiser" problems, whose solution appears after the relevant theory has been expounded.
Each chapter is presented as a "toolchest" of instruments designed for cracking the problems collected at the end of the chapter. Other topics, such as algebra, co-ordinate geometry, functional equations and probability, are introduced and elucidated in the posing and solving of the large collection of miscellaneous problems in thefinal toolchest.
An unusual feature of this book is the attention paid throughout to the history of mathematics - the origins of the ideas, the terminology and some of the problems, and the celebration of mathematics as a multicultural, cooperative human achievement.
As a bonus the aspiring "mathlete" may encounter, in the most enjoyable way possible, many of the topics that form the core of the standard school curriculum.

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of foundational results and recent progress in the study of random matrices from the classical compact groups, drawing on the subject's deep connections to geometry, analysis, algebra, physics, and statistics. The book sets a foundation with an introduction to the groups themselves and six different constructions of Haar measure. Classical and recent results are then presented in a digested, accessible form, including the following: results on the joint distributions of the entries; an extensive treatment of eigenvalue distributions, including the Weyl integration formula, moment formulae, and limit theorems and large deviations for the spectral measures; concentration of measure with applications both within random matrix theory and in high dimensional geometry; and results on characteristic polynomials with connections to the Riemann zeta function. This book will be a useful reference for researchers and an accessible introduction for students in related fields.

"Convolution and Equidistribution" explores an important aspect of number theory--the theory of exponential sums over finite fields and their Mellin transforms--from a new, categorical point of view. The book presents fundamentally important results and a plethora of examples, opening up new directions in the subject.

The finite-field Mellin transform (of a function on the multiplicative group of a finite field) is defined by summing that function against variable multiplicative characters. The basic question considered in the book is how the values of the Mellin transform are distributed (in a probabilistic sense), in cases where the input function is suitably algebro-geometric. This question is answered by the book's main theorem, using a mixture of geometric, categorical, and group-theoretic methods.

By providing a new framework for studying Mellin transforms over finite fields, this book opens up a new way for researchers to further explore the subject.

This open access textbook presents a comprehensive treatment of the arithmetic theory of quaternion algebras and orders, a subject with applications in diverse areas of mathematics. Written to be accessible and approachable to the graduate student reader, this text collects and synthesizes results from across the literature. Numerous pathways offer explorations in many different directions, while the unified treatment makes this book an essential reference for students and researchers alike. Divided into five parts, the book begins with a basic introduction to the noncommutative algebra underlying the theory of quaternion algebras over fields, including the relationship to quadratic forms. An in-depth exploration of the arithmetic of quaternion algebras and orders follows. The third part considers analytic aspects, starting with zeta functions and then passing to an idelic approach, offering a pathway from local to global that includes strong approximation. Applications of unit groups of quaternion orders to hyperbolic geometry and low-dimensional topology follow, relating geometric and topological properties to arithmetic invariants. Arithmetic geometry completes the volume, including quaternionic aspects of modular forms, supersingular elliptic curves, and the moduli of QM abelian surfaces. Quaternion Algebras encompasses a vast wealth of knowledge at the intersection of many fields. Graduate students interested in algebra, geometry, and number theory will appreciate the many avenues and connections to be explored. Instructors will find numerous options for constructing introductory and advanced courses, while researchers will value the all-embracing treatment. Readers are assumed to have some familiarity with algebraic number theory and commutative algebra, as well as the fundamentals of linear algebra, topology, and complex analysis. More advanced topics call upon additional background, as noted, though essential concepts and motivation are recapped throughout.

An undergraduate-level introduction to number theory, with the emphasis on fully explained proofs and examples. Exercises, together with their solutions are integrated into the text, and the first few chapters assume only basic school algebra. Elementary ideas about groups and rings are then used to study groups of units, quadratic residues and arithmetic functions with applications to enumeration and cryptography. The final part, suitable for third-year students, uses ideas from algebra, analysis, calculus and geometry to study Dirichlet series and sums of squares. In particular, the last chapter gives a concise account of Fermat's Last Theorem, from its origin in the ancient Babylonian and Greek study of Pythagorean triples to its recent proof by Andrew Wiles.

This is Volume 1 of a two-volume book that provides a self-contained introduction to the theory and application of automorphic forms, using examples to illustrate several critical analytical concepts surrounding and supporting the theory of automorphic forms. The two-volume book treats three instances, starting with some small unimodular examples, followed by adelic GL2, and finally GLn. Volume 1 features critical results, which are proven carefully and in detail, including discrete decomposition of cuspforms, meromorphic continuation of Eisenstein series, spectral decomposition of pseudo-Eisenstein series, and automorphic Plancherel theorem. Volume 2 features automorphic Green's functions, metrics and topologies on natural function spaces, unbounded operators, vector-valued integrals, vector-valued holomorphic functions, and asymptotics. With numerous proofs and extensive examples, this classroom-tested introductory text is meant for a second-year or advanced graduate course in automorphic forms, and also as a resource for researchers working in automorphic forms, analytic number theory, and related fields.

We use addition on a daily basis--yet how many of us stop to truly consider the enormous and remarkable ramifications of this mathematical activity? Summing It Up uses addition as a springboard to present a fascinating and accessible look at numbers and number theory, and how we apply beautiful numerical properties to answer math problems. Mathematicians Avner Ash and Robert Gross explore addition's most basic characteristics as well as the addition of squares and other powers before moving onward to infinite series, modular forms, and issues at the forefront of current mathematical research. Ash and Gross tailor their succinct and engaging investigations for math enthusiasts of all backgrounds. Employing college algebra, the first part of the book examines such questions as, can all positive numbers be written as a sum of four perfect squares? The second section of the book incorporates calculus and examines infinite series--long sums that can only be defined by the concept of limit, as in the example of 1+1/2+1/4+...=? With the help of some group theory and geometry, the third section ties together the first two parts of the book through a discussion of modular forms--the analytic functions on the upper half-plane of the complex numbers that have growth and transformation properties. Ash and Gross show how modular forms are indispensable in modern number theory, for example in the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Appropriate for numbers novices as well as college math majors, Summing It Up delves into mathematics that will enlighten anyone fascinated by numbers.

This rather unique book is a guided tour through number theory. While most introductions to number theory provide a systematic and exhaustive treatment of the subject, the authors have chosen instead to illustrate the many varied subjects by associating recent discoveries, interesting method, and unsolved problems. In particular, we read about combinatorial problems in number theory, a branch of mathematics co-founded and popularized by Paul Erdös. Janos Suranyi's vast teaching experience successfully complements Paul Erdös' ability to initiate new directions of research by suggesting new problems and approaches. This book will surely arouse the interest of the student and the teacher alike. Until his death in 1996, Professor Paul Erdös was one of the most prolific mathematicians ever, publishing close to 1,500 papers. While his papers contributed to almost every area of mathematics, his main research interest was in the area of combinatorics, graph theory, and number theory. He is most famous for proposing problems to the mathematical community which were exquisitely simple to understand yet difficult to solve. He was awarded numerous prestigious prizes including the Frank Nelson Cole prize of the AMS. Professor Janos Suranyi is a leading personality in Hungary, not just within the mathematical community, but also in the planning and conducting of different educational projects whiich have led to a new secondary school curriculum. His activity has been recognized by, amongst others, the Middle Cross of the Hungarian Decoration and the Erdös Award of the World Federation of National Mathematical Competitions. rian Decoration and the Erdös Award of the World Federation of National Mathematical Competitions.

Developed from the author's popular text, A Concise Introduction to the Theory of Numbers, this book provides a comprehensive initiation to all the major branches of number theory. Beginning with the rudiments of the subject, the author proceeds to more advanced topics, including elements of cryptography and primality testing, an account of number fields in the classical vein including properties of their units, ideals and ideal classes, aspects of analytic number theory including studies of the Riemann zeta-function, the prime-number theorem and primes in arithmetical progressions, a description of the Hardy-Littlewood and sieve methods from respectively additive and multiplicative number theory and an exposition of the arithmetic of elliptic curves. The book includes many worked examples, exercises and further reading. Its wider coverage and versatility make this book suitable for courses extending from the elementary to beginning graduate studies.

It is impossible to imagine modern mathematics without complex numbers. Complex Numbers from A to . . . Z introduces the reader to this fascinating subject that, from the time of L. Euler, has become one of the most utilized ideas in mathematics.

The exposition concentrates on key concepts and then elementary results concerning these numbers. The reader learns how complex numbers can be used to solve algebraic equations and to understand the geometric interpretation of complex numbers and the operations involving them.

The theoretical parts of the book are augmented with rich exercises and problems at various levels of difficulty. A special feature of the book is the last chapter, a selection of outstanding Olympiad and other important mathematical contest problems solved by employing the methods already presented.

The book reflects the unique experience of the authors. It distills a vast mathematical literature, most of which is unknown to the western public, and captures the essence of an abundant problem culture. The target audience includes undergraduates, high school students and their teachers, mathematical contestants (such as those training for Olympiads or the W. L. Putnam Mathematical Competition) and their coaches, as well as anyone interested in essential mathematics.

From the review: "The present book has as its aim to resolve a discrepancy in the textbook literature and ... to provide a comprehensive introduction to algebraic number theory which is largely based on the modern, unifying conception of (one-dimensional) arithmetic algebraic geometry. ... Despite this exacting program, the book remains an introduction to algebraic number theory for the beginner... The author discusses the classical concepts from the viewpoint of Arakelov theory.... The treatment of class field theory is ... particularly rich in illustrating complements, hints for further study, and concrete examples.... The concluding chapter VII on zeta-functions and L-series is another outstanding advantage of the present textbook.... The book is, without any doubt, the most up-to-date, systematic, and theoretically comprehensive textbook on algebraic number field theory available." W. Kleinert in: Zentralblatt für Mathematik, 1992

The Hardy-Littlewood circle method was invented over a century ago to study integer solutions to special Diophantine equations, but it has since proven to be one of the most successful all-purpose tools available to number theorists. Not only is it capable of handling remarkably general systems of polynomial equations defined over arbitrary global fields, but it can also shed light on the space of rational curves that lie on algebraic varieties. This book, in which the arithmetic of cubic polynomials takes centre stage, is aimed at bringing beginning graduate students into contact with some of the many facets of the circle method, both classical and modern. This monograph is the winner of the 2021 Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize, a prestigious award for books of expository nature presenting the latest developments in an active area of research in mathematics.

The main topics of this volume, dedicated to Lance Littlejohn, are operator and spectral theory, orthogonal polynomials, combinatorics, number theory, and the various interplays of these subjects. Although the event, originally scheduled as the Baylor Analysis Fest, had to be postponed due to the pandemic, scholars from around the globe have contributed research in a broad range of mathematical fields. The collection will be of interest to both graduate students and professional mathematicians. Contributors are: G.E. Andrews, B.M. Brown, D. Damanik, M.L. Dawsey, W.D. Evans, J. Fillman, D. Frymark, A.G. Garcia, L.G. Garza, F. Gesztesy, D. Gomez-Ullate, Y. Grandati, F.A. Grunbaum, S. Guo, M. Hunziker, A. Iserles, T.F. Jones, K. Kirsten, Y. Lee, C. Liaw, F. Marcellan, C. Markett, A. Martinez-Finkelshtein, D. McCarthy, R. Milson, D. Mitrea, I. Mitrea, M. Mitrea, G. Novello, D. Ong, K. Ono, J.L. Padgett, M.M.M. Pang, T. Poe, A. Sri Ranga, K. Schiefermayr, Q. Sheng, B. Simanek, J. Stanfill, L. Velazquez, M. Webb, J. Wilkening, I.G. Wood, M. Zinchenko.

This book collects and explains the many theorems concerning the existence of certificates of positivity for polynomials that are positive globally or on semialgebraic sets. A certificate of positivity for a real polynomial is an algebraic identity that gives an immediate proof of a positivity condition for the polynomial. Certificates of positivity have their roots in fundamental work of David Hilbert from the late 19th century on positive polynomials and sums of squares. Because of the numerous applications of certificates of positivity in mathematics, applied mathematics, engineering, and other fields, it is desirable to have methods for finding, describing, and characterizing them. For many of the topics covered in this book, appropriate algorithms, computational methods, and applications are discussed. This volume contains a comprehensive, accessible, up-to-date treatment of certificates of positivity, written by an expert in the field. It provides an overview of both the theory and computational aspects of the subject, and includes many of the recent and exciting developments in the area. Background information is given so that beginning graduate students and researchers who are not specialists can learn about this fascinating subject. Furthermore, researchers who work on certificates of positivity or use them in applications will find this a useful reference for their work.

This easy-to-read 2010 book demonstrates how a simple geometric idea reveals fascinating connections and results in number theory, the mathematics of polyhedra, combinatorial geometry, and group theory. Using a systematic paper-folding procedure it is possible to construct a regular polygon with any number of sides. This remarkable algorithm has led to interesting proofs of certain results in number theory, has been used to answer combinatorial questions involving partitions of space, and has enabled the authors to obtain the formula for the volume of a regular tetrahedron in around three steps, using nothing more complicated than basic arithmetic and the most elementary plane geometry. All of these ideas, and more, reveal the beauty of mathematics and the interconnectedness of its various branches. Detailed instructions, including clear illustrations, enable the reader to gain hands-on experience constructing these models and to discover for themselves the patterns and relationships they unearth.

A new edition of a classical treatment of elliptic and modular functions with some of their number-theoretic applications, this text offers an updated bibliography and an alternative treatment of the transformation formula for the Dedekind eta function. It covers many topics, such as Hecke 's theory of entire forms with multiplicative Fourier coefficients, and the last chapter recounts Bohr 's theory of equivalence of general Dirichlet series.

This monograph describes and implements partially homomorphic encryption functions using a unified notation. After introducing the appropriate mathematical background, the authors offer a systematic examination of the following known algorithms: Rivest-Shamir-Adleman; Goldwasser-Micali; ElGamal; Benaloh; Naccache-Stern; Okamoto-Uchiyama; Paillier; Damgaard-Jurik; Boneh-Goh-Nissim; and Sander-Young-Yung. Over recent years partially and fully homomorphic encryption algorithms have been proposed and researchers have addressed issues related to their formulation, arithmetic, efficiency and security. Formidable efficiency barriers remain, but we now have a variety of algorithms that can be applied to various private computation problems in healthcare, finance and national security, and studying these functions may help us to understand the difficulties ahead. The book is valuable for researchers and graduate students in Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics who are engaged with Cryptology.

Introduction to Cyclotomic Fields is a carefully written exposition of a central area of number theory that can be used as a second course in algebraic number theory. Starting at an elementary level, the volume covers p-adic L-functions, class numbers, cyclotomic units, Fermat's Last Theorem, and Iwasawa's theory of Z_p-extensions, leading the reader to an understanding of modern research literature. Many exercises are included. The second edition includes a new chapter on the work of Thaine, Kolyvagin, and Rubin, including a proof of the Main Conjecture. There is also a chapter giving other recent developments, including primality testing via Jacobi sums and Sinnott's proof of the vanishing of Iwasawa's f-invariant.

This book provides an overview of many interesting properties of natural numbers, demonstrating their applications in areas such as cryptography, geometry, astronomy, mechanics, computer science, and recreational mathematics. In particular, it presents the main ideas of error-detecting and error-correcting codes, digital signatures, hashing functions, generators of pseudorandom numbers, and the RSA method based on large prime numbers. A diverse array of topics is covered, from the properties and applications of prime numbers, some surprising connections between number theory and graph theory, pseudoprimes, Fibonacci and Lucas numbers, and the construction of Magic and Latin squares, to the mathematics behind Prague's astronomical clock. Introducing a general mathematical audience to some of the basic ideas and algebraic methods connected with various types of natural numbers, the book will provide invaluable reading for amateurs and professionals alike.

This book discusses the p-adic modular forms, the eigencurve that parameterize them, and the p-adic L-functions one can associate to them. These theories and their generalizations to automorphic forms for group of higher ranks are of fundamental importance in number theory. For graduate students and newcomers to this field, the book provides a solid introduction to this highly active area of research. For experts, it will offer the convenience of collecting into one place foundational definitions and theorems with complete and self-contained proofs. Written in an engaging and educational style, the book also includes exercises and provides their solution.

This book summarizes recent inventions, provides guidelines and recommendations, and demonstrates many practical applications of homomorphic encryption. This collection of papers represents the combined wisdom of the community of leading experts on Homomorphic Encryption. In the past 3 years, a global community consisting of researchers in academia, industry, and government, has been working closely to standardize homomorphic encryption. This is the first publication of whitepapers created by these experts that comprehensively describes the scientific inventions, presents a concrete security analysis, and broadly discusses applicable use scenarios and markets. This book also features a collection of privacy-preserving machine learning applications powered by homomorphic encryption designed by groups of top graduate students worldwide at the Private AI Bootcamp hosted by Microsoft Research. The volume aims to connect non-expert readers with this important new cryptographic technology in an accessible and actionable way. Readers who have heard good things about homomorphic encryption but are not familiar with the details will find this book full of inspiration. Readers who have preconceived biases based on out-of-date knowledge will see the recent progress made by industrial and academic pioneers on optimizing and standardizing this technology. A clear picture of how homomorphic encryption works, how to use it to solve real-world problems, and how to efficiently strengthen privacy protection, will naturally become clear.

Number theory and algebra play an increasingly significant role in computing and communications, as evidenced by the striking applications of these subjects to such fields as cryptography and coding theory. This introductory book emphasizes algorithms and applications, such as cryptography and error correcting codes, and is accessible to a broad audience. The presentation alternates between theory and applications in order to motivate and illustrate the mathematics. The mathematical coverage includes the basics of number theory, abstract algebra and discrete probability theory. This edition now includes over 150 new exercises, ranging from the routine to the challenging, that flesh out the material presented in the body of the text, and which further develop the theory and present new applications. The material has also been reorganized to improve clarity of exposition and presentation. Ideal as a textbook for introductory courses in number theory and algebra, especially those geared towards computer science students.

This is the fourth in a series of proceedings of the Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory (CANT) conferences, based on talks from the 2019 and 2020 workshops at the City University of New York. The latter was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and featured speakers from North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The 2020 Zoom conference was the largest CANT conference in terms of the number of both lectures and participants. These proceedings contain 25 peer-reviewed and edited papers on current topics in number theory. Held every year since 2003 at the CUNY Graduate Center, the workshop surveys state-of-the-art open problems in combinatorial and additive number theory and related parts of mathematics. Topics featured in this volume include sumsets, zero-sum sequences, minimal complements, analytic and prime number theory, Hausdorff dimension, combinatorial and discrete geometry, and Ramsey theory. This selection of articles will be of relevance to both researchers and graduate students interested in current progress in number theory.

This book discusses regular powers and symbolic powers of ideals from three perspectives- algebra, combinatorics and geometry - and examines the interactions between them. It invites readers to explore the evolution of the set of associated primes of higher and higher powers of an ideal and explains the evolution of ideals associated with combinatorial objects like graphs or hypergraphs in terms of the original combinatorial objects. It also addresses similar questions concerning our understanding of the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of powers of combinatorially defined ideals in terms of the associated combinatorial data. From a more geometric point of view, the book considers how the relations between symbolic and regular powers can be interpreted in geometrical terms. Other topics covered include aspects of Waring type problems, symbolic powers of an ideal and their invariants (e.g., the Waldschmidt constant, the resurgence), and the persistence of associated primes.