An introduction to abstract algebra (Q1861141)

This book under review provides a first introduction to modern abstract algebra. Certainly, there are already numerous textbooks on introductory algebra, each of which being distinguished by its own objective and flavor, and so one might ask the legitimate question of what is the novelty justifying the appearance of the present new textbook. As the author aptly states in the preface to his book, until quite recently algebra was very much the domain of the pure mathematician, and so applications were usually few and far between. But all this has radically changed as a result of the rapid developments in information technology, where the precision and power of the concepts and methods of algebra have proved to be invaluable. Today students and specialists in computer science and engineering, as well as physics, chemistry and biological sciences, already routinely take courses in higher algebra. In view of these developments, the present work represents an attempt to meet the needs of both mathematicians and scientists who are interested in (or even compelled to) acquiring a basic knowledge in abstract algebra. However, this book is not intended to be a text on applied algebra exclusively. In fact, the text provides primarily a profound introduction to the main concepts of modern abstract algebra, but it also contains an exceptionally wide spectrum of concrete up-to-date applications, which really distinguishes this new book from many others on this subject. Based on courses taught over many years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the National University of Singapore and the University of London, the material is organized in twelve separate chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to naive set theory to the extent that is needed for formulating the concepts of algebra. Chapter 2 covers the very basic facts from elementary number theory, just up to linear congruences and the Chinese Remainder theorem. The first exemplary applications include an introduction to the RSA cryptosystem. Chapter 3 discusses the simplest algebraic structures, namely semigroups, monoids and groups. Chapter 4 continues the treatment of groups with a discussion of (normal) subgroups, quotient groups, and homomorphisms of groups. The material covered here includes the isomorphism theorems, the structure of cyclic groups, and semidirect products of groups. Chapter 5 deals with group actions on sets and the Sylow theorems, together with some illustrating applications to combinatorics. These applications concern labelling problems, Polya's theorem, coloring theory, and combinatorial graph theory, illustrated by concrete examples at each time. Chapter 6 provides a first introduction to rings, ideals, division rings and fields. This topic is pursued in the subsequent Chapter 7, where Euclidean domains, principal ideals domains, unique factorization domains, and the algebra of polynomials are the main subjects of discussion. Chapter 8 is apparently inserted for the convenience of those readers who are not familiar enough with the basic concepts of linear algebra. This chapter covers the fundamental facts on vector spaces, linear mappings, and orthogonality in metric vector spaces. Chapter 9 returns to group theory and is more advanced than the foregoing chapters. The main topics of this section of the book are the Jordan-Hölder theorem for groups, solvable and nilpotent groups, Frattini subgroups, the structure theorems for finite solvable groups, and the classification of finite abelian groups. Chapter 10 is devoted to the elementary theory of field extensions and some of its beautiful applications: constructions with ruler and compass and the famous related problems from ancient Greek mathematics. The author also discusses the structure of finite fields and, as a very nice illustrating application, the combinatorics of Latin squares and Steiner triple systems. Chapter 11 does elementary Galois theory up to the Fundamental Theorem and the solvability of polynomial equations by radicals, including cyclotomic polynomials, a Galois-theoretic proof of the fundamental theorem of Algebra, the construction problem for regular polygons, and the symmetric function theorem. Chapter 12, the final chapter, provides some additional material some of which is not ordinarily part of an undergraduate algebra course. Zorn's Lemma and its application to existence problems is algebra (bases, maximal ideals, the algebraic closure of a field, etc.), the representation of a group by generators and relations, and the construction of free groups form the purely theoretical part of this concluding chapter, whereas an excellent introduction to the theory of error correcting codes serves as another important application of algebraic methods -- and as one of the highlights of the entire text! There are nearly 400 exercises, of varying degrees of difficulty, to help the beginner in algebra to test his skill and progress. Altogether, this book represents a very gentle, user-friendly and skillful introduction to undergraduate abstract algebra for students in various fields of science. It is fair to say that a very experienced teacher has here presented a valuable introductory text on abstract algebra that can universally be used as a source for a one or two semester course on the subject for students in their second or third year of study. Without any doubt, this text is also very suitable for private study and exam preparation of undergraduates.