Content and Subject Matter: This research monograph deals with two main subjects, namely the notion of equimultiplicity and the algebraic study of various graded rings in relation to blowing ups. Both subjects are clearly motivated by their use in resolving singularities of algebraic varieties, for which one of the main tools consists in blowing up the variety along an equimultiple subvariety. For equimultiplicity a unified and self-contained treatment of earlier results of two of the authors is given, establishing a notion of equimultiplicity for situations other than the classical ones. For blowing up, new results are presented on the connection with generalized Cohen-Macaulay rings. To keep this part self-contained too, a section on local cohomology and local duality for graded rings and modules is included with detailed proofs. Finally, in an appendix, the notion of equimultiplicity for complex analytic spaces is given a geometric interpretation and its equivalence to the algebraic notion is explained. The book is primarily addressed to specialists in the subject but the self-contained and unified presentation of numerous earlier results make it accessible to graduate students with basic knowledge in commutative algebra.

This volume brings together recent, original research and survey articles by leading experts in several fields that include singularity theory, algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. The motivation for this collection comes from the wide-ranging research of the distinguished mathematician, Antonio Campillo, in these and related fields. Besides his influence in the mathematical community stemming from his research, Campillo has also endeavored to promote mathematics and mathematicians' networking everywhere, especially in Spain, Latin America and Europe. Because of his impressive achievements throughout his career, we dedicate this book to Campillo in honor of his 65th birthday. Researchers and students from the world-wide, and in particular Latin American and European, communities in singularities, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, coding theory, and other fields covered in the volume, will have interest in this book.

Resolution of Singularities has long been considered as being a difficult to access area of mathematics. The more systematic and simpler proofs that have appeared in the last few years in zero characteristic now give us a much better understanding of singularities. They reveal the aesthetics of both the logical structure of the proof and the various methods used in it. The present volume is intended for readers who are not yet experts but always wondered about the intricacies of resolution. As such, it provides a gentle and quite comprehensive introduction to this amazing field. The book may tempt the reader to enter more deeply into a topic where many mysteries--especially the positive characteristic case--await to be disclosed. Titles in this series are co-published with the Clay Mathematics Institute (Cambridge, MA).

This book gives an account of theoretical and algorithmic developments on the integral closure of algebraic structures. It gives a comprehensive treatment of Rees algebras and multiplicity theory while pointing to applications in many other problem areas. Its main goal is to provide complexity estimates by tracking numerically invariants of the structures that may occur.

In the last two decades Cohen-Macaulay rings and modules have been central topics in commutative algebra. This book meets the need for a thorough, self-contained introduction to the homological and combinatorial aspects of the theory of Cohen-Macaulay rings, Gorenstein rings, local cohomology, and canonical modules. A separate chapter is devoted to Hilbert functions (including Macaulay's theorem) and numerical invariants derived from them. The authors emphasize the study of explicit, specific rings, making the presentation as concrete as possible. So the general theory is applied to Stanley-Reisner rings, semigroup rings, determinantal rings, and rings of invariants. Their connections with combinatorics are highlighted, e.g. Stanley's upper bound theorem or Ehrhart's reciprocity law for rational polytopes. The final chapters are devoted to Hochster's theorem on big Cohen-Macaulay modules and its applications, including Peskine-Szpiro's intersection theorem, the Evans-Griffith syzygy theorem, bounds for Bass numbers, and tight closure. Throughout each chapter the authors have supplied many examples and exercises which, combined with the expository style, will make the book very useful for graduate courses in algebra. As the only modern, broad account of the subject it will be essential reading for researchers in commutative algebra.

In July 1996, a conference was organized by the editors of this volume at the Mathematische Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach to honour Egbert Brieskorn on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Most of the mathematicians invited to the conference have been influenced in one way or another by Brieskorn's work in singularity theory. It was the first time that so many people from the Russian school could be present at a conference in singularity theory outside Russia. This volume contains papers on singularity theory and its applications, written by participants of the conference. In many cases, they are extended versions of the talks presented there. The diversity of subjects of the contributions reflects singularity theory's relevance to topology, analysis and geometry, combining ideas and techniques from all of these fields, as well as demonstrating the breadth of Brieskorn's own interests. This volume contains papers on singularity theory and its applications, written by participants of the conference. In many cases, they are extended versions of the talks presented there. The diversity of subjects of the contributions reflects singularity theory's relevance to topology, analysis and geometry, combining ideas and techniques from all of these fields, as well as demonstrates the breadth of Brieskorn's own interests.