New edition includes extensive revisions of the material on finite groups and Galois Theory. New problems added throughout.

This book develops the Weyr matrix canonical form, a largely unknown cousin of the Jordan form. It explores novel applications, including include matrix commutativity problems, approximate simultaneous diagonalization, and algebraic geometry. Module theory and algebraic geometry are employed but with self-contained accounts.

The techniques presented here are useful for solving mathematical contest problems in algebra and analysis. Most of the examples and exercises that appear in the book originate from mathematical Olympiad competitions around the world. In the first four chapters the authors cover material for competitions at high school level. The level advances with the chapters. The topics explored include polynomials, functional equations, sequences and an elementary treatment of complex numbers. The final chapters provide a comprehensive list of problems posed at national and international contests in recent years, and solutions to all exercises and problems presented in the book. It helps students in preparing for national and international mathematical contests form high school level to more advanced competitions and will also be useful for their first year of mathematical studies at the university. It will be of interest to teachers in college and university level, and trainers of the mathematical Olympiads.

Linear algebra and matrix theory are fundamental tools for almost every area of mathematics, both pure and applied. This book combines coverage of core topics with an introduction to some areas in which linear algebra plays a key role, for example, block designs, directed graphs, error correcting codes, and linear dynamical systems. Notable features include a discussion of the Weyr characteristic and Weyr canonical forms, and their relationship to the better-known Jordan canonical form; the use of block cyclic matrices and directed graphs to prove Frobenius's theorem on the structure of the eigenvalues of a nonnegative, irreducible matrix; and the inclusion of such combinatorial topics as BIBDs, Hadamard matrices, and strongly regular graphs. Also included are McCoy's theorem about matrices with property P, the Bruck-Ryser-Chowla theorem on the existence of block designs, and an introduction to Markov chains. This book is intended for those who are familiar with the linear algebra covered in a typical first course and are interested in learning more advanced results.

Great book! The author's teaching experinece shows in every chapter. --Efim Zelmanov, University of California, San Diego Vinberg has written an algebra book that is excellent, both as a classroom text or for self-study. It is plain that years of teaching abstract algebra have enabled him to say the right thing at the right time. --Irving Kaplansky, MSRI This is a comprehensive text on modern algebra written for advanced undergraduate and basic graduate algebra classes. The book is based on courses taught by the author at the Mechanics and Mathematics Department of Moscow State University and at the Mathematical College of the Independent University of Moscow. The unique feature of the book is that it contains almost no technically difficult proofs. Following his point of view on mathematics, the author tried, whenever possible, to replace calculations and difficult deductions with conceptual proofs and to associate geometric images to algebraic objects. Another important feature is that the book presents most of the topics on several levels, allowing the student to move smoothly from initial acquaintance to thorough study and deeper understanding of the subject. Presented are basic topics in algebra such as algebraic structures, linear algebra, polynomials, groups, as well as more advanced topics like affine and projective spaces, tensor algebra, Galois theory, Lie groups, associative algebras and their representations. Some applications of linear algebra and group theory to physics are discussed. Written with extreme care and supplied with more than 200 exercises and 70 figures, the book is also an excellent text for independent study.

Presents algebra exercises with easy-to-follow guidelines, and includes over one thousand problems in numerous algebraic topics.