scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1016790
Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to field theory (12-01) Equations in general fields (12E12) Separable extensions, Galois theory (12F10) Polyhedra and polytopes; regular figures, division of spaces (51M20) Analytic geometry with other transformation groups (51N25)
From the Preface: ``A body of mathematics often comes into sharp focus for the student who is learning it for the second time, to solve an engaging problem. My aim in writing this book is to provide such a review and application for an advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate audience. The quintic equation has fascinated mathematicians for at least 200 years. The classic of the subject is of course \textit{F. Klein}'s ``Lectures on the icosahedron and solutions of equations of the fifth degree [English translation Dover (1956; Zbl 0072.25901); German edition, Birkhäuser (1993; Zbl 0803.01037)]. Great expositor though Klein was, his work is extremely difficult for the modern reader, because the mathematical language and the background knowledge assumed of the reader have changed so drastically; Klein for example can take at a gallop topics in invariant theory and transformation theory of elliptic functions, while labouring for several pages over a (to the modern reader) easy point of group theory. The first six chapters of the book under review describe the algebraic theory of the quintic, and constitute a presentation in modern language of a good part of the algebraic and geometric material in Klein. The seventh and final chapter describes the recent solution by iteration given by \textit{P. Doyle} and \textit{C. McMullen} [Acta Math. 163, No. 3/4, 151-180 (1989; Zbl 0705.65036)], and substitutes for the solutions of the quintic by analytic functions given by Klein. The major thrust of the algebraic theory is the reduction of the general quintic \(T^5+a_1T^4+\cdots a_4T+a_5\), which has five free parameters, to the Brioschi form \(T^5-10WT^3+45W^2T-W^2\), which involves just one parameter (!). The techniques used in the reduction cover a great deal of ground: linear algebra, Galois theory, group representation theory, complex analysis, Euclidean geometry and rudiments of projective and algebraic geometry; the final chapter goes further into algebraic geometry. All these work together harmoniously to solve the quintic. The book certainly fulfills the author's aim, as quoted at the beginning of this review, but it also makes fascinating reading for mathematicians of any level or persuasion. A further quote from the preface gives a good idea of the author's philosophy : ``Since long expositions can camouflage key ideas, the writing here is deliberately terse: this book is therefore meant to be read slowly in small doses. I make no effort to give exhaustive treatment of every topic that this material touches on, especially topics already well covered in other contemporary texts. The main narrative suitably illustrates the varied terrain it traverses. An admirable book, highly recommended.
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