The long-standing Kervaire invariant problem in homotopy theory arose from geometric and differential topology in the 1960s and was quickly recognised as one of the most important problems in the field. In 2009 the authors of this book announced a solution to the problem, which was published to wide acclaim in a landmark Annals of Mathematics paper. The proof is long and involved, using many sophisticated tools of modern (equivariant) stable homotopy theory that are unfamiliar to non-experts. This book presents the proof together with a full development of all the background material to make it accessible to a graduate student with an elementary algebraic topology knowledge. There are explicit examples of constructions used in solving the problem. Also featuring a motivating history of the problem and numerous conceptual and expository improvements on the proof, this is the definitive account of the resolution of the Kervaire invariant problem.

This comprehensive text focuses on the homotopical technology in use at the forefront of modern algebraic topology. Following on from a standard introductory algebraic topology sequence, it will provide students with a comprehensive background in spectra and structured ring spectra. Each chapter is an extended tutorial by a leader in the field, offering the first really accessible treatment of the modern construction of the stable category in terms of both model categories of point-set diagram spectra and infinity-categories. It is one of the only textbook sources for operadic algebras, structured ring spectra, and Bousfield localization, which are now basic techniques in the field, and the book provides a rare expository treatment of spectral algebraic geometry. Together the contributors - Emily Riehl, Daniel Dugger, Clark Barwick, Michael A. Mandell, Birgit Richter, Tyler Lawson, and Charles Rezk - offer a complete, authoritative source to learn the foundations of this vibrant area.