In this monograph, the theory of spectral sequence constructors is developed, the four main constructions of the spectral sequence of a Hopf algebra extension are discussed and compared, and a uniqueness theorem for the spectral sequence is proved. A similar study is made of the spectral sequence of a fibration, and its uniqueness is also established.

Spectral sequences are among the most elegant and powerful methods of computation in mathematics. This book describes some of the most important examples of spectral sequences and some of their most spectacular applications. The first part treats the algebraic foundations for this sort of homological algebra, starting from informal calculations. The heart of the text is an exposition of the classical examples from homotopy theory, with chapters on the Leray-Serre spectral sequence, the Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequence, the Adams spectral sequence, and, in this new edition, the Bockstein spectral sequence. The last part of the book treats applications throughout mathematics, including the theory of knots and links, algebraic geometry, differential geometry and algebra. This is an excellent reference for students and researchers in geometry, topology, and algebra.

The connective topological modular forms spectrum, tmf, is in a sense initial among elliptic spectra, and as such is an important link between the homotopy groups of spheres and modular forms. A primary goal of this volume is to give a complete account, with full proofs, of the homotopy of tmf and several tmf-module spectra by means of the classical Adams spectral sequence, thus verifying, correcting, and extending existing approaches. In the process, folklore results are made precise and generalized. Anderson and Brown-Comenetz duality, and the corresponding dualities in homotopy groups, are carefully proved. The volume also includes an account of the homotopy groups of spheres through degree 44, with complete proofs, except that the Adams conjecture is used without proof. Also presented are modern stable proofs of classical results which are hard to extract from the literature. Tools used in this book include a multiplicative spectral sequence generalizing a construction of Davis and Mahowald, and computer software which computes the cohomology of modules over the Steenrod algebra and products therein. Techniques from commutative algebra are used to make the calculation precise and finite. The H∞ ring structure of the sphere and of tmf are used to determine many differentials and relations.

The connective topological modular forms spectrum, $tmf$, is in a sense initial among elliptic spectra, and as such is an important link between the homotopy groups of spheres and modular forms. A primary goal of this volume is to give a complete account, with full proofs, of the homotopy of $tmf$ and several $tmf$-module spectra by means of the classical Adams spectral sequence, thus verifying, correcting, and extending existing approaches. In the process, folklore results are made precise and generalized. Anderson and Brown-Comenetz duality, and the corresponding dualities in homotopy groups, are carefully proved. The volume also includes an account of the homotopy groups of spheres through degree 44, with complete proofs, except that the Adams conjecture is used without proof. Also presented are modern stable proofs of classical results which are hard to extract from the literature. Tools used in this book include a multiplicative spectral sequence generalizing a construction of Davis and Mahowald, and computer software which computes the cohomology of modules over the Steenrod algebra and products therein. Techniques from commutative algebra are used to make the calculation precise and finite. The $H$-infinity ring structure of the sphere and of $tmf$ are used to determine many differentials and relations.

This book is a compilation of lecture notes that were prepared for the graduate course ``Adams Spectral Sequences and Stable Homotopy Theory'' given at The Fields Institute during the fall of 1995. The aim of this volume is to prepare students with a knowledge of elementary algebraic topology to study recent developments in stable homotopy theory, such as the nilpotence and periodicity theorems. Suitable as a text for an intermediate course in algebraic topology, this book provides a direct exposition of the basic concepts of bordism, characteristic classes, Adams spectral sequences, Brown-Peterson spectra and the computation of stable stems. The key ideas are presented in complete detail without becoming encyclopedic. The approach to characteristic classes and some of the methods for computing stable stems have not been published previously. All results are proved in complete detail. Only elementary facts from algebraic topology and homological algebra are assumed. Each chapter concludes with a guide for further study.

The theory of topological modular forms is an intricate blend of classical algebraic modular forms and stable homotopy groups of spheres. The construction of this theory combines an algebro-geometric perspective on elliptic curves over finite fields with techniques from algebraic topology, particularly stable homotopy theory. It has applications to and connections with manifold topology, number theory, and string theory. This book provides a careful, accessible introduction to topological modular forms. After a brief history and an extended overview of the subject, the book proper commences with an exposition of classical aspects of elliptic cohomology, including background material on elliptic curves and modular forms, a description of the moduli stack of elliptic curves, an explanation of the exact functor theorem for constructing cohomology theories, and an exploration of sheaves in stable homotopy theory. There follows a treatment of more specialized topics, including localization of spectra, the deformation theory of formal groups, and Goerss-Hopkins obstruction theory for multiplicative structures on spectra. The book then proceeds to more advanced material, including discussions of the string orientation, the sheaf of spectra on the moduli stack of elliptic curves, the homotopy of topological modular forms, and an extensive account of the construction of the spectrum of topological modular forms. The book concludes with the three original, pioneering and enormously influential manuscripts on the subject, by Hopkins, Miller, and Mahowald.

This book consists of twenty-nine articles contributed by participants of the International Conference in Algebraic Topology held in July 1991 in Mexico. In addition to papers on current research, there are several surveys and expositions on the work of Mark Mahowald, whose sixtieth birthday was celebrated during the conference. The conference was truly international, with over 130 mathematicians from fifteen countries. It ended with a spectacular total eclipse of the sun, a photograph of which appears as the frontispiece. The papers range over much of algebraic topology and cross over into related areas, such as K theory, representation theory, and Lie groups. Also included is a chart of the Adams spectral sequence and a bibliography of Mahowald's publications.