This book is a general introduction to the theory of schemes, followed by applications to arithmetic surfaces and to the theory of reduction of algebraic curves. The first part introduces basic objects such as schemes, morphisms, base change, local properties (normality, regularity, Zariski's Main Theorem). This is followed by the more global aspect: coherent sheaves and a finiteness theorem for their cohomology groups. Then follows a chapter on sheaves of differentials, dualizing sheaves, and Grothendieck's duality theory. The first part ends with the theorem of Riemann-Roch and its application to the study of smooth projective curves over a field. Singular curves are treated through a detailed study of the Picard group. The second part starts with blowing-ups and desingularisation (embedded or not) of fibered surfaces over a Dedekind ring that leads on to intersection theory on arithmetic surfaces. Castelnuovo's criterion is proved and also the existence of the minimal regular model. This leads to the study of reduction of algebraic curves. The case of elliptic curves is studied in detail. The book concludes with the funadmental theorem of stable reduction of Deligne-Mumford. The book is essentially self-contained, including the necessary material on commutative algebra. The prerequisites are therefore few, and the book should suit a graduate student. It contains many examples and nearly 600 exercises.

Author S.A. Stepanov thoroughly investigates the current state of the theory of Diophantine equations and its related methods. Discussions focus on arithmetic, algebraic-geometric, and logical aspects of the problem. Designed for students as well as researchers, the book includes over 250 excercises accompanied by hints, instructions, and references. Written in a clear manner, this text does not require readers to have special knowledge of modern methods of algebraic geometry.

The articles in this volume are expanded versions of lectures delivered at the Graduate Summer School and at the Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics held at the Institute for Advanced Study/Park City Mathematics Institute. The theme of the program was arithmetic algebraic geometry. The choice of lecture topics was heavily influenced by the recent spectacular work of Wiles on modular elliptic curves and Fermat's Last Theorem. The main emphasis of the articles in the volume is on elliptic curves, Galois representations, and modular forms. One lecture series offers an introduction to these objects. The others discuss selected recent results, current research, and open problems and conjectures. The book would be a suitable text for an advanced graduate topics course in arithmetic algebraic geometry.

In this book, Miranda takes the approach that algebraic curves are best encountered for the first time over the complex numbers, where the reader's classical intuition about surfaces, integration, and other concepts can be brought into play. Therefore, many examples of algebraic curves are presented in the first chapters. In this way, the book begins as a primer on Riemann surfaces, with complex charts and meromorphic functions taking centre stage. But the main examples come fromprojective curves, and slowly but surely the text moves toward the algebraic category. Proofs of the Riemann-Roch and Serre Dualtiy Theorems are presented in an algebraic manner, via an adaptation of the adelic proof, expressed completely in terms of solving a Mittag-Leffler problem. Sheaves andcohomology are introduced as a unifying device in the later chapters, so that their utility and naturalness are immediately obvious. Requiring a background of one term of complex variable theory and a year of abstract algebra, this is an excellent graduate textbook for a second-term course in complex variables or a year-long course in algebraic geometry.

Extremely carefully written, masterfully thought out, and skillfully arranged introduction … to the arithmetic of algebraic curves, on the one hand, and to the algebro-geometric aspects of number theory, on the other hand. … an excellent guide for beginners in arithmetic geometry, just as an interesting reference and methodical inspiration for teachers of the subject … a highly welcome addition to the existing literature. —Zentralblatt MATH The interaction between number theory and algebraic geometry has been especially fruitful. In this volume, the author gives a unified presentation of some of the basic tools and concepts in number theory, commutative algebra, and algebraic geometry, and for the first time in a book at this level, brings out the deep analogies between them. The geometric viewpoint is stressed throughout the book. Extensive examples are given to illustrate each new concept, and many interesting exercises are given at the end of each chapter. Most of the important results in the one-dimensional case are proved, including Bombieri's proof of the Riemann Hypothesis for curves over a finite field. While the book is not intended to be an introduction to schemes, the author indicates how many of the geometric notions introduced in the book relate to schemes, which will aid the reader who goes to the next level of this rich subject.

This book introduces the reader to modern algebraic geometry. It presents Grothendieck's technically demanding language of schemes that is the basis of the most important developments in the last fifty years within this area. A systematic treatment and motivation of the theory is emphasized, using concrete examples to illustrate its usefulness. Several examples from the realm of Hilbert modular surfaces and of determinantal varieties are used methodically to discuss the covered techniques. Thus the reader experiences that the further development of the theory yields an ever better understanding of these fascinating objects. The text is complemented by many exercises that serve to check the comprehension of the text, treat further examples, or give an outlook on further results. The volume at hand is an introduction to schemes. To get startet, it requires only basic knowledge in abstract algebra and topology. Essential facts from commutative algebra are assembled in an appendix. It will be complemented by a second volume on the cohomology of schemes.

An introduction to abstract algebraic geometry, with the only prerequisites being results from commutative algebra, which are stated as needed, and some elementary topology. More than 400 exercises distributed throughout the book offer specific examples as well as more specialised topics not treated in the main text, while three appendices present brief accounts of some areas of current research. This book can thus be used as textbook for an introductory course in algebraic geometry following a basic graduate course in algebra. Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. He is the author of "Residues and Duality", "Foundations of Projective Geometry", "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties", and numerous research titles.