Modules: theory, practice\dots and a little arithmetic! (Q2897332)

The textbook under review is designed for students who have learned the principles of basic abstract algebra, as taught in undergraduate courses covering the fundamental concepts of ordinary linear algebra, elementary group theory, and the rudiments of ring theory. Its principal aim is to provide a first introduction to the theory of modules over a ring, thereby helping prepare masters-level students (M1) for more advanced courses in commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, or algebraic number theory.NEWLINENEWLINE As for the precise contents, this book consists of ten chapters and three supplementing appendices, where each of these units is divided into several thematic sections. After a brief motivating preface to the entire text. Chapter 1 gives the first basic definitions, notions, and examples concerning modules over a general unitary ring, including submodules, quotient modules, exact sequences of modules, and cyclic modules. Chapter 2 introduces several important classes of modules such as finitely generated modules, Noetherian modules, free modules, and projective modules, whereas Chapter 3 is devoted to the localization principle for (commutative) rings and modules. In this context, the reader gets here acquainted with local rings, modules of finite presentation, the rank of a module over an integral domain, and numerous concrete examples. Chapter 4 deals with Nakayama's Lemma and some of its many crucial applications in commutative algebra, especially with the characterization of finitely generated projective modules over a commutative ring. Tensor products of modules, their elementary properties, and the scalar extensions of a module over a commutative ring are the topics discussed in Chapter 5, which is then followed by a treatment of algebras over a commutative ring in Chapter 6, with a particular focus on tensor algebras, tensor products of two algebras, graded algebras, and tensor products of anticommutative, associative unitary algebras. Chapter 7 develops the framework of alternating \(n\)-linear maps and the exterior algebra of a module over a commutative ring, along with various of its fundamental applications such as determinatal calculus for endomorphisms of free modules of finite rank, Cramér's rule for square matrices over a commuative ring, and numerous related examples. Chapter 8 gives the description of finitely generated modules over a principal domain. The approach presented here is of algorithmic nature, based on a systematic, very efficient reduction method for matrices over such a ring. The applications of this structure theorem concern the classification of finitely generated groups, the generators of the general linear group and of the special linear group over a principal ideal domain, the study of endomorphisms of finite-dimensional vector spaces via both their Frobenius form and their Jordan form, respectively, and the primary decomposition of finitely generated torsion modules over a principal ideal domain.NEWLINENEWLINE The highlight of the present textbook is certainly Chapter 9, where the structure of finitely generated modules over a Dedekind domain is comprehensively analyzed. Demonstrating the power of the concepts, methods, and results developed in previous chapters, the author presents here a more advanced topic of basically arithmetic origin, together with the related themes of integral ring extensions, rings of algebraic integers, Dedekind rings and their ideal theory, ideal class groups, and others. Finally, the brief Chapter 10 explains the Grothendieck group \(K_0(A)\) of a commutative ring \(A\), thereby summarizing the information about finitely generated projective modules over such ring, as developed in the foregoing chapters. Each chapter contains a section, in which a series of related, carefully selected and well-composed exercises is provided. These exercises lead the reader much deeper into the respective topics, furnish the latter with further important and instructive examples, and invite the student to additional, self-reliant study.NEWLINENEWLINE The three appendices recall some basic material which is used in the course of the main text. Appendix A collects some facts on infinite sets and ordered sets, while Appendix B compiles (with proofs) a number of basic results on separable field extensions. Finally, Appendix C gives a brief introduction to the language of categories and functors, particularly with a view toward representable functors and universal properties, as occasionally (and concretely) touched upon in the course of the text.NEWLINENEWLINE All together, the book under review is an excellent first introduction to module theory. Geared toward beginners in the field, this text sets a high value on didactic principles, encouraging motivation, lucidity, rigour, and enlightening examples. At the same time, the author emphasizes the modern, abstract style of mathematical writing just as much as panoramic diversity in the presentation of the basic material. It seems fair to say that this primer is a great invitation to the ubiquitous topic of modules in contemporary mathematics, and a profound guide to the study of commutative algebra and algebraic number theory besides.