This book uses the beautiful theory of elliptic curves to introduce the reader to some of the deeper aspects of number theory. It assumes only a knowledge of the basic algebra, complex analysis, and topology usually taught in first-year graduate courses.An elliptic curve is a plane curve defined by a cubic polynomial. Although the problem of finding the rational points on an elliptic curve has fascinated mathematicians since ancient times, it was not until 1922 that Mordell proved that the points form a finitely generated group. There is still no proven algorithm for finding the rank of the group, but in one of the earliest important applications of computers to mathematics, Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer discovered a relation between the rank and the numbers of points on the curve computed modulo a prime. Chapter IV of the book proves Mordell's theorem and explains the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer.Every elliptic curve over the rational numbers has an L-series attached to it.Hasse conjectured that this L-series satisfies a functional equation, and in 1955 Taniyama suggested that Hasse's conjecture could be proved by showing that the L-series arises from a modular form. This was shown to be correct by Wiles (and others) in the 1990s, and, as a consequence, one obtains a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Chapter V of the book is devoted to explaining this work.The first three chapters develop the basic theory of elliptic curves.For this edition, the text has been completely revised and updated.

One of the most important mathematical achievements of the past several decades has been A. Grothendieck's work on algebraic geometry. In the early 1960s, he and M. Artin introduced etale cohomology in order to extend the methods of sheaf-theoretic cohomology from complex varieties to more general schemes. This work found many applications, not only in algebraic geometry, but also in several different branches of number theory and in the representation theory of finite and p-adic groups. Yet until now, the work has been available only in the original massive and difficult papers. In order to provide an accessible introduction to etale cohomology, J. S. Milne offers this more elementary account covering the essential features of the theory. The author begins with a review of the basic properties of flat and etale morphisms and of the algebraic fundamental group. The next two chapters concern the basic theory of etale sheaves and elementary etale cohomology, and are followed by an application of the cohomology to the study of the Brauer group. After a detailed analysis of the cohomology of curves and surfaces, Professor Milne proves the fundamental theorems in etale cohomology -- those of base change, purity, Poincare duality, and the Lefschetz trace formula. He then applies these theorems to show the rationality of some very general L-series. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This volume collects six related articles. The first is the notes (written by J.S. Milne) of a major part of the seminar "Periodes des Int grales Abeliennes" given by P. Deligne at I'.B.E.S., 1978-79. The second article was written for this volume (by P. Deligne and J.S. Milne) and is largely based on: N Saavedra Rivano, Categories tannakiennes, Lecture Notes in Math. 265, Springer, Heidelberg 1972. The third article is a slight expansion of part of: J.S. Milne and Kuang-yen Shih, Sh ura varieties: conjugates and the action of complex conjugation 154 pp. (Unpublished manuscript, October 1979). The fourth article is based on a letter from P. De1igne to R. Langlands, dated 10th April, 1979, and was revised and completed (by De1igne) in July, 1981. The fifth article is a slight revision of another section of the manuscript of Milne and Shih referred to above. The sixth article, by A. Ogus, dates from July, 1980.

This book uses the beautiful theory of elliptic curves to introduce the reader to some of the deeper aspects of number theory. It assumes only a knowledge of the basic algebra, complex analysis, and topology usually taught in first-year graduate courses.An elliptic curve is a plane curve defined by a cubic polynomial. Although the problem of finding the rational points on an elliptic curve has fascinated mathematicians since ancient times, it was not until 1922 that Mordell proved that the points form a finitely generated group. There is still no proven algorithm for finding the rank of the group, but in one of the earliest important applications of computers to mathematics, Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer discovered a relation between the rank and the numbers of points on the curve computed modulo a prime. Chapter IV of the book proves Mordell's theorem and explains the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer.Every elliptic curve over the rational numbers has an L-series attached to it.Hasse conjectured that this L-series satisfies a functional equation, and in 1955 Taniyama suggested that Hasse's conjecture could be proved by showing that the L-series arises from a modular form. This was shown to be correct by Wiles (and others) in the 1990s, and, as a consequence, one obtains a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Chapter V of the book is devoted to explaining this work.The first three chapters develop the basic theory of elliptic curves.For this edition, the text has been completely revised and updated.