No label defined (Q4528984)

Combinatorial commutative algebra is a relatively new subject linking commutative algebra with combinatorics. Although in the last fifteen years a large number of research articles have appeared in this area, only a handful of introductory textbooks are available, e.g. the books by \textit{R. Stanley} [``Combinatorics and commutative algebra'', 2nd ed. (Boston 1996; Zbl 0838.13008)] and by \textit{B. Sturmfels} [``Gröbner bases and convex polytopes'', Univ. Lect. Ser. 8 (Providence 1996; Zbl 0856.13020)]. The monograph under review aims to complement this selection by providing a graduate textbook about monomial algebras and their presentation ideals which emphases effective computational methods. The first part of the book, covering five chapters and about 130 pages, is a quick review of a wide range of topics in commutative algebra. Almost no proofs are given, but instead the author cites numerous other works. In view of the huge ground he covers (e.g. graded algebras, Cohen-Macaulay modules, normality, Rees algebras, Gröbner bases, Koszul homology, Hilbert series,\dots) there is clearly no hope to be self-contained, but the reader is assumed to know or to be able to quickly absorb a rather substantial amount of commutative algebra. The remaining six chapters contain the proper contents of the book. After introducing the basic properties of monomial ideals and Stanley-Reisner rings, the author spends three chapters on monomial algebras defined by square-free monomials, i.e. on monomial algebras associated to simple graphs. He systematically uses graph theory to study such algebras. This approach represents a worthwhile addition to the existing literature. For example, the author studies connections between the Cohen-Macaulay property of the face ring and combinatorial properties of a graph. Furthermore, he gives a combinatorial description of the integral closure of a monomial subring and computes Hilbert series, Noether normalizations and Gröbner bases of monomial subrings corresponding to complete graphs. The last two chapters are devoted to the study of toric ideals. The author presents some results on ideals defining monomial space curves and set-theoretical complete intersection toric ideals, but the text remains merely a collection of glimpses into this deep topic. The book concludes with some graph diagrams and an extensive bibliography. This volume provides the researcher with an excellent reference text covering an active and interesting subject at the juncture of two branches of mathematics. As a textbook, is plays a more limited role, since it appears suitable only for advanced graduate students with substantial previous knowledge of commutative algebra. The first part of the book provides a good guide to the foundations, but to look up and study the references given there would be quite some undertaking. A highlight of the book are many exercises giving concrete computer programs for explicitly calculating the notions treated in the main text. Instead of relying on strange-looking pseudo-code, the author gives concrete instructions in the easily comprehensible language of the computer algebra system CoCoA (available freely from cocoa.dima.unige.it). These programs form a nice basis for assigning further projects or theses based on the material of the book. Altogether, the volume under review is a valuable addition to the existing literature on combinatorial commutative algebra and will be a useful tool for researchers and students in this area.