Computational invariant theory (Q1604830)

The paper under review is the first volume of the subseries 'Invariant Theory and Algebraic Transformation Groups' of the Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences. The main aims of the book are centered around algorithmic methods of invariant theory, mainly with invariants of finite and lineraly reductive groups. In case of finite groups the primary interest is devoted to the study of the modular case, where the characteristic of the ground field divides the order of the group. Of central interest is the question how the invariant ring of a given group action can be computed. Besides of the authors' interest in algorithmic approaches there are investigations about structural properties of invariant rings, such as the homological dimensions or the Noether bound for the degree of generators of the invariant rings. The book is divided into five chapters and an appendix. In the first two chapters (Chapter 1: `Constructive Ideal Theory' and Chapter 2: `Invariant Theory') the authors' prepare the base for their algorithmic approach. Chapter 1 is a survey of Gröbner bases as the main computational tool. Chapter 2 provides the reader with a general introduction to invariant theory, the basic definitions and problems. As an application of tight closure there is a proof of the Hochster-Roberts theorem that the ring of invariants of a linearly reductive group acting on a polynomial ring is Cohen-Macaulay. The core of the book are chapter 3 (`Invariant theory of finite groups') and chapter 4 (`Invariant theory of reductive groups'). In chapter 3, there are algorithms for finding a finite set of invariants of the invariant ring, mainly in the most interesting modular case with all difficulties and unsolved problems, including methods applicable to special situations and `ad hoc' methods. As a qualitative consideration there are results of bounds for the degree of generators, in particular those extending Noether's bound to the case of positive characteristic. Chapter 4 is devoted to invariants of linearly reductive groups. There is an algorithm for computing a finite set of generating invariants, a method for computing the Hilbert series, a degree bound for the invariants improving a result of Popov. As a particular case the rings of invariants of tori are considered. Chapter 5 (`Applications of invariant theory') summarizes applications from ten fields, among them cohomology of finite groups, systems of algebraic equations, graph theory, coding theory, computer vision, some of them a little bit esoteric. The appendix (`Linear algebraic groups') summarizes some standard facts about linear algebraic groups used in the second part of Chapter 4. The text covers a lot of illustrating and instructing examples. It is intended as a companion for the study of rings of invariants with a view towards an algorithmic, computational approach.