Algebra in the Stone-Čech compactification: theory and applications (Q1266503)

If \(S\) is a discrete semigroup its Stone-Čech compactification \(\beta S\) has a natural semigroup operation extending that of \(S\). The present book is the first devoted to an extensive study of the algebraic structure of \(\beta S\) and the many applications thereof; it is an exciting book, written -- and very well written -- by two mathematicians who are eminently qualified two write it, and it is essentially self-contained, requiring only that the reader come to it with the basic concepts of first graduate courses in algebra, analysis and topology. The book is divided into four chapters: Background development, Ideals and commutativity in \(\beta S\), Combinatorial applications, and Connections with other structures. Basic information about compact semigroups is given in the first, and the second provides a thorough study of the algebra of the semigroup \(\beta S\). Chapter 3 contains applications to Ramsey theory and includes proofs of the theorems of van der Waerden, Rado, Hales-Jewett and Carlson, and also proofs of the finite sums theorem, central sets theorem and a characterization of image partition regular matrices. The last chapter presents connections with topological dynamics, ergodic theory and the general theory of semigroup compactifications. A wonderful and inspiring example is \(\beta\mathbb{N}\), from the natural numbers \(\mathbb{N}\), the most familiar semigroup of all. This example is interesting for its own sake, displaying remarkable beauty, complexity and diversity. Indeed, many of the theorems named in the previous paragraph were originally established using combinatorial methods, and later elegant proofs for them were found that used algebraic properties of \(\beta\mathbb{N}\) (these latter proofs being the ones presented here). Furthermore, new and interesting results and proofs concerning \(\beta\mathbb{N}\) continue to be discovered; for example, it was shown only recently that \(\beta\mathbb{N}\) contains no nontrivial finite subgroups. And simple questions remain unanswered, such as ``does \(\beta\mathbb{N}\) contain any elements of finite order?'' I recommend this book highly; it will be very useful, both to researchers and to students. Its index, list of symbols and up-to-date bibliography are very helpful, as is a (short) list of errata that is available at www.degruyter.com/highlights/hindman.html.