This book introduces a theory of higher matrix factorizations for regular sequences and uses it to describe the minimal free resolutions of high syzygy modules over complete intersections. Such resolutions have attracted attention ever since the elegant construction of the minimal free resolution of the residue field by Tate in 1957. The theory extends the theory of matrix factorizations of a non-zero divisor, initiated by Eisenbud in 1980, which yields a description of the eventual structure of minimal free resolutions over a hypersurface ring. Matrix factorizations have had many other uses in a wide range of mathematical fields, from singularity theory to mathematical physics.

"This book succeeds brilliantly by concentrating on a number of core topics...and by treating them in a hugely rich and varied way. The author ensures that the reader will learn a large amount of classical material and perhaps more importantly, will also learn that there is no one approach to the subject. The essence lies in the range and interplay of possible approaches. The author is to be congratulated on a work of deep and enthusiastic scholarship." --MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS

This book surveys fundamental current topics in these two areas of research, emphasising the lively interaction between them. Volume 1 contains expository papers ideal for those entering the field.

Interest in commutative algebra has surged over the past decades. In order to survey and highlight recent developments in this rapidly expanding field, the Centre de Recerca Matematica in Bellaterra organized a ten-days Summer School on Commutative Algebra in 1996. Lectures were presented by six high-level specialists, L. Avramov (Purdue), M.K. Green (UCLA), C. Huneke (Purdue), P. Schenzel (Halle), G. Valla (Genova) and W.V. Vasconcelos (Rutgers), providing a fresh and extensive account of the results, techniques and problems of some of the most active areas of research. The present volume is a synthesis of the lectures given by these authors. Research workers as well as graduate students in commutative algebra and nearby areas will find a useful overview of the field and recent developments in it. Reviews "All six articles are at a very high level; they provide a thorough survey of results and methods in their subject areas, illustrated with algebraic or geometric examples." - Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum Avramov lecture: "... it contains all the major results [on infinite free resolutions], it explains carefully all the different techniques that apply, it provides complete proofs (...). This will be extremely helpful for the novice as well as the experienced." - Mathematical reviews Huneke lecture: "The topic is tight closure, a theory developed by M. Hochster and the author which has in a short time proved to be a useful and powerful tool. (...) The paper is extremely well organized, written, and motivated." - Zentralblatt MATH Schenzel lecture: "... this paper is an excellent introduction to applications of local cohomology." - Zentralblatt MATH Valla lecture: "... since he is an acknowledged expert on Hilbert functions and since his interest has been so broad, he has done a superb job in giving the readers a lively picture of the theory." - Mathematical reviews Vasconcelos lecture: "This is a very useful survey on invariants of modules over noetherian rings, relations between them, and how to compute them." - Zentralblatt MATH

The selected contributions in this volume originated at the Sundance conference, which was devoted to discussions of current work in the area of free resolutions. The papers include new research, not otherwise published, and expositions that develop current problems likely to influence future developments in the field.

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The goal of this book is to cover the active developments of arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay and Ulrich bundles and related topics in the last 30 years, and to present relevant techniques and multiple applications of the theory of Ulrich bundles to a wide range of problems in algebraic geometry as well as in commutative algebra.