The amount of mathematics invented for number-theoretic reasons is impressive. It includes much of complex analysis, the re-foundation of algebraic geometry on commutative algebra, group cohomology, homological algebra, and the theory of motives. Zeta and L-functions sit at the meeting point of all these theories and have played a profound role in shaping the evolution of number theory. This book presents a big picture of zeta and L-functions and the complex theories surrounding them, combining standard material with results and perspectives that are not made explicit elsewhere in the literature. Particular attention is paid to the development of the ideas surrounding zeta and L-functions, using quotes from original sources and comments throughout the book, pointing the reader towards the relevant history. Based on an advanced course given at Jussieu in 2013, it is an ideal introduction for graduate students and researchers to this fascinating story.

This is the long-awaited publication of the famous Irvine lectures. Delivered in 1978 at the University of California at Irvine, these lectures turned out to be an entry point to several intimately-connected new branches of arithmetic algebraic geometry, such as regulators and special values of L-functions of algebraic varieties, explicit formulas for them in terms of polylogarithms, the theory of algebraic cycles, and eventually the general theory of mixed motives which unifies and underlies all of the above (and much more).

Discover how zeta and L-functions have shaped the development of major parts of mathematics over the past two centuries.

'Motives' were introduced in the mid-1960s by Grothendieck to explain the analogies among the various cohomology theories for algebraic varieties, and to play the role of the missing rational cohomology. This work contains the texts of the lectures presented at the AMS-IMS-SIAM Joint Summer Research Conference on Motives, held in Seattle, in 1991.

Graph theory meets number theory in this stimulating book. Ihara zeta functions of finite graphs are reciprocals of polynomials, sometimes in several variables. Analogies abound with number-theoretic functions such as Riemann/Dedekind zeta functions. For example, there is a Riemann hypothesis (which may be false) and prime number theorem for graphs. Explicit constructions of graph coverings use Galois theory to generalize Cayley and Schreier graphs. Then non-isomorphic simple graphs with the same zeta are produced, showing you cannot hear the shape of a graph. The spectra of matrices such as the adjacency and edge adjacency matrices of a graph are essential to the plot of this book, which makes connections with quantum chaos and random matrix theory, plus expander/Ramanujan graphs of interest in computer science. Created for beginning graduate students, the book will also appeal to researchers. Many well-chosen illustrations and exercises, both theoretical and computer-based, are included throughout.

Part 2 contains sections on Automorphic representations and $L$-functions, Arithmetical algebraic geometry and $L$-functions

This three-volume work contains articles collected on the occasion of Alexander Grothendieck’s sixtieth birthday and originally published in 1990. The articles were offered as a tribute to one of the world’s greatest living mathematicians. Many of the groundbreaking contributions in these volumes contain material that is now considered foundational to the subject. Topics addressed by these top-notch contributors match the breadth of Grothendieck’s own interests, including: functional analysis, algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, number theory, representation theory, K-theory, category theory, and homological algebra.