Complex abelian varieties and theta functions (Q1188995)

On 100 pages the author gives an introduction to the theory of complex abelian varieties and to the theory of theta functions. It is extremely well written and admirable how the author covers the essential material on the subject on a few pages, keeping a good balance between the technical apparatus and elementary arguments to prove the basic theorems of the theory. It reflects some recent developments over the past 15 years or so, which have not been available in textbooks yet (the names Mumford, Igusa and that of the author should be mentioned in this connection). The prerequisites to read this book are roughly the following: Elements of the theory of functions of several complex variables and of complex algebraic geometry; some acquaintance with the language of sheaves; basic facts about (co)homology of topological spaces and of sheaves; elements of representation theory of groups. --- On the other hand, the book is also a good opportunity to see these theories in action on a rather concrete subject, leading to result which are not so easy to derive by other methods. --- To get an impression of the topics covered in the book I list the headings of the 11 chapters: 1. Complex tori 2. The existence of sections of sheaves 3. The cohomology of complex tori 4. Groups acting on complete linear systems 5. Theta functions 6. The algebra of the theta functions 7. Moduli spaces 8. Modular forms 9. Mappings to abelian varieties 10. The linear system \(| 2D|\) 11. Abelian varieties occurring in nature. The theory of theta functions is rather classical subject, going back to Abel, Jacobi, Riemann\(\ldots\) It cannot be expected from a book of this size to give a precise account of sources and history for the theory. But, at least a brief informal discussion of immediate sources is added, mentioning the names of Mumford, Umemura, Igusa, Koizumi, Sekiguchi and the author, and anticipating the book of \textit{H. Lange} and \textit{Ch. Birkenhake} [``Complex abelian varieties'' (1992)] whose presentation the author followed in some sections. The booklet can be highly recommended to all those who want to have a quick access to new developments in the analytic theory of complex abelian varieties.