Foreword by Dieter Jungnickel
Finite Commutative Rings and their Applications answers a need for an introductory reference in finite commutative ring theory as applied to information and communication theory. This book will be of interest to both professional and academic researchers in the fields of communication and coding theory.

The book is a concrete and self-contained introduction to finite commutative local rings, focusing in particular on Galois and Quasi-Galois rings. The reader is provided with an active and concrete approach to the study of the purely algebraic structure and properties of finite commutative rings (in particular, Galois rings) as well as to their applications to coding theory.

Finite Commutative Rings and their Applications is the first to address both theoretical and practical aspects of finite ring theory. The authors provide a practical approach to finite rings through explanatory examples, thereby avoiding an abstract presentation of the subject. The section on Quasi-Galois rings presents new and unpublished results as well. The authors then introduce some applications of finite rings, in particular Galois rings, to coding theory, using a solid algebraic and geometric theoretical background.

This text is suitable for courses in commutative algebra, finite commutative algebra, and coding theory. It is also suitable as a supplementary text for courses in discrete mathematics, finite fields, finite rings, etc.

An incredible season for algebraic geometry flourished in Italy between 1860, when Luigi Cremona was assigned the chair of Geometria Superiore in Bologna, and 1959, when Francesco Severi published the last volume of the treatise on algebraic systems over a surface and an algebraic variety. This century-long season has had a prominent influence on the evolution of complex algebraic geometry - both at the national and international levels - and still inspires modern research in the area. "Algebraic geometry in Italy between tradition and future" is a collection of contributions aiming at presenting some of these powerful ideas and their connection to contemporary and, if possible, future developments, such as Cremonian transformations, birational classification of high-dimensional varieties starting from Gino Fano, the life and works of Guido Castelnuovo, Francesco Severi's mathematical library, etc. The presentation is enriched by the viewpoint of various researchers of the history of mathematics, who describe the cultural milieu and tell about the bios of some of the most famous mathematicians of those times.

This book focusses on a large class of objects in moduli theory and provides different perspectives from which compactifications of moduli spaces may be investigated. Three contributions give an insight on particular aspects of moduli problems. In the first of them, various ways to construct and compactify moduli spaces are presented. In the second, some questions on the boundary of moduli spaces of surfaces are addressed. Finally, the theory of stable quotients is explained, which yields meaningful compactifications of moduli spaces of maps. Both advanced graduate students and researchers in algebraic geometry will find this book a valuable read.

Foreword by Dieter Jungnickel Finite Commutative Rings and their Applications answers a need for an introductory reference in finite commutative ring theory as applied to information and communication theory. This book will be of interest to both professional and academic researchers in the fields of communication and coding theory. The book is a concrete and self-contained introduction to finite commutative local rings, focusing in particular on Galois and Quasi-Galois rings. The reader is provided with an active and concrete approach to the study of the purely algebraic structure and properties of finite commutative rings (in particular, Galois rings) as well as to their applications to coding theory. Finite Commutative Rings and their Applications is the first to address both theoretical and practical aspects of finite ring theory. The authors provide a practical approach to finite rings through explanatory examples, thereby avoiding an abstract presentation of the subject. The section on Quasi-Galois rings presents new and unpublished results as well. The authors then introduce some applications of finite rings, in particular Galois rings, to coding theory, using a solid algebraic and geometric theoretical background.

We investigate GIT quotients of polarized curves. More specifically, we study the GIT problem for the Hilbert and Chow schemes of curves of degree d and genus g in a projective space of dimension d-g, as d decreases with respect to g. We prove that the first three values of d at which the GIT quotients change are given by d=a(2g-2) where a=2, 3.5, 4. We show that, for a>4, L. Caporaso's results hold true for both Hilbert and Chow semistability. If 3.5

These are the informal notes of two seminars held at the Università di Roma “La Sapienza�, and at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa in spring and autumn 1997. We discuss in detail the content of the parts of a paper by Givental dealing with mirror symmetry for projective complete intersections.