Non-commutative fields (also called skew fields or division rings) have not been studied as thoroughly as their commutative counterparts and most accounts have hitherto been confined to division algebras, that is skew fields finite-dimensional over their centre. Based on the author's LMS lecture note volume Skew Field Constructions, the present work offers a comprehensive account of skew fields. The axiomatic foundation and a precise description of the embedding problem are followed by an account of algebraic and topological construction methods, in particular, the author's general embedding theory is presented with full proofs, leading to the construction of skew fields. The powerful coproduct theorems of G. M. Bergman are proved here as well as the properties of the matrix reduction functor, a useful but little-known construction providing a source of examples and counter-examples. The construction and basic properties of existentially closed skew fields are given, leading to an example of a model class with an infinite forcing companion which is not axiomatizable. The treatment of equations over skew fields has been simplified and extended by the use of matrix methods, and the beginnings of non-commutative algebraic geometry are presented, with a precise account of the problems that need to be overcome for a satisfactory theory. A separate chapter describes valuations and orderings on skew fields, with a construction applicable to free fields. Numerous exercises test the reader's understanding, presenting further aspects and open problems in concise form, and notes and comments at the ends of chapters provide historical background.

Much progress has been made during the last decade on the subjects of non commutative valuation rings, and of semi-hereditary and Priifer orders in a simple Artinian ring which are considered, in a sense, as global theories of non-commu tative valuation rings. So it is worth to present a survey of the subjects in a self-contained way, which is the purpose of this book. Historically non-commutative valuation rings of division rings were first treat ed systematically in Schilling's Book [Sc], which are nowadays called invariant valuation rings, though invariant valuation rings can be traced back to Hasse's work in [Has]. Since then, various attempts have been made to study the ideal theory of orders in finite dimensional algebras over fields and to describe the Brauer groups of fields by usage of "valuations", "places", "preplaces", "value functions" and "pseudoplaces". In 1984, N. 1. Dubrovin defined non-commutative valuation rings of simple Artinian rings with notion of places in the category of simple Artinian rings and obtained significant results on non-commutative valuation rings (named Dubrovin valuation rings after him) which signify that these rings may be the correct def inition of valuation rings of simple Artinian rings. Dubrovin valuation rings of central simple algebras over fields are, however, not necessarily to be integral over their centers.

This monograph is the first book-length treatment of valuation theory on finite-dimensional division algebras, a subject of active and substantial research over the last forty years. Its development was spurred in the last decades of the twentieth century by important advances such as Amitsur's construction of non crossed products and Platonov's solution of the Tannaka-Artin problem. This study is particularly timely because it approaches the subject from the perspective of associated graded structures. This new approach has been developed by the authors in the last few years and has significantly clarified the theory. Various constructions of division algebras are obtained as applications of the theory, such as noncrossed products and indecomposable algebras. In addition, the use of valuation theory in reduced Whitehead group calculations (after Hazrat and Wadsworth) and in essential dimension computations (after Baek and Merkurjev) is showcased. The intended audience consists of graduate students and research mathematicians.

This book is the first of two proceedings volumes stemming from the International Conference and Workshop on Valuation Theory held at the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, SK, Canada). Valuation theory arose in the early part of the twentieth century in connection with number theory and has many important applications to geometry and analysis: the classical application to the study of algebraic curves and to Dedekind and Prufer domains; the close connection to the famousresolution of the singularities problem; the study of the absolute Galois group of a field; the connection between ordering, valuations, and quadratic forms over a formally real field; the application to real algebraic geometry; the study of noncommutative rings; etc. The special feature of this book isits focus on current applications of valuation theory to this broad range of topics. Also included is a paper on the history of valuation theory. The book is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians working in algebra, algebraic geometry, number theory, and mathematical logic.