This volume offers a compendium of exercises of varying degree of difficulty in the theory of modules and rings. It is the companion volume to GTM 189. All exercises are solved in full detail. Each section begins with an introduction giving the general background and the theoretical basis for the problems that follow.

An invaluable summary of research work done in the period from 1978 to the present

This useful book, which grew out of the author's lectures at Berkeley, presents some 400 exercises of varying degrees of difficulty in classical ring theory, together with complete solutions, background information, historical commentary, bibliographic details, and indications of possible improvements or generalizations. The book should be especially helpful to graduate students as a model of the problem-solving process and an illustration of the applications of different theorems in ring theory. The author also discusses "the folklore of the subject: the `tricks of the trade' in ring theory, which are well known to the experts in the field but may not be familiar to others, and for which there is usually no good reference". The problems are from the following areas: the Wedderburn-Artin theory of semisimple rings, the Jacobson radical, representation theory of groups and algebras, (semi)prime rings, (semi)primitive rings, division rings, ordered rings, (semi)local rings, the theory of idempotents, and (semi)perfect rings. Problems in the areas of module theory, category theory, and rings of quotients are not included, since they will appear in a later book. T. W. Hungerford, Mathematical Reviews

One of my favorite graduate courses at Berkeley is Math 251, a one-semester course in ring theory offered to second-year level graduate students. I taught this course in the Fall of 1983, and more recently in the Spring of 1990, both times focusing on the theory of noncommutative rings. This book is an outgrowth of my lectures in these two courses, and is intended for use by instructors and graduate students in a similar one-semester course in basic ring theory. Ring theory is a subject of central importance in algebra. Historically, some of the major discoveries in ring theory have helped shape the course of development of modern abstract algebra. Today, ring theory is a fer tile meeting ground for group theory (group rings), representation theory (modules), functional analysis (operator algebras), Lie theory (enveloping algebras), algebraic geometry (finitely generated algebras, differential op erators, invariant theory), arithmetic (orders, Brauer groups), universal algebra (varieties of rings), and homological algebra (cohomology of rings, projective modules, Grothendieck and higher K-groups). In view of these basic connections between ring theory and other branches of mathemat ics, it is perhaps no exaggeration to say that a course in ring theory is an indispensable part of the education for any fledgling algebraist. The purpose of my lectures was to give a general introduction to the theory of rings, building on what the students have learned from a stan dard first-year graduate course in abstract algebra."

This volume offers a compendium of exercises of varying degree of difficulty in the theory of modules and rings. It is the companion volume to GTM 189. All exercises are solved in full detail. Each section begins with an introduction giving the general background and the theoretical basis for the problems that follow.

" This useful book, which grew out of the author's lectures at Berkeley, presents some 400 exercises of varying degrees of difficulty in classical ring theory, together with complete solutions, background information, historical commentary, bibliographic details, and indications of possible improvements or generalizations. The book should be especially helpful to graduate students as a model of the problem-solving process and an illustration of the applications of different theorems in ring theory. The author also discusses "the folklore of the subject: the 'tricks of the trade' in ring theory, which are well known to the experts in the field but may not be familiar to others, and for which there is usually no good reference". The problems are from the following areas: the Wedderburn-Artin theory of semisimple rings, the Jacobson radical, representation theory of groups and algebras, (semi)prime rings, (semi)primitive rings, division rings, ordered rings, (semi)local rings, the theory of idempotents, and (semi)perfect rings. Problems in the areas of module theory, category theory, and rings of quotients are not included, since they will appear in a later book. " (T. W. Hungerford, Mathematical Reviews)

From the Preface: "I felt it would be useful for graduate students to see a detailed account of the sequence of mathematical developments which was inspired by the Conjecture, and which ultimately led to its full solution.... I offered a course on Serre's Conjecture to a small group of graduate students in January, 1977 [at the University of California, Berkeley] one year after its solution by Quillen and Suslin. My course was taught very much in the spirit of a mathematical 'guided tour'. Volunteering as the guide, I took upon myself the task of charting a route through all the beautiful mathematics surrounding the main problem to be treated; the 'guide' then leads his audience through the route, on to the destination, pointing out the beautiful sceneries and historical landmarks along the way."

An invaluable summary of research work done in the period from 1978 to the present