. . . if one wants to make progress in mathematics one should study the masters not the pupils. N. H. Abel Heeke was certainly one of the masters, and in fact, the study of Heeke L series and Heeke operators has permanently embedded his name in the fabric of number theory. It is a rare occurrence when a master writes a basic book, and Heeke's Lectures on the Theory of Algebraic Numbers has become a classic. To quote another master, Andre Weil: "To improve upon Heeke, in a treatment along classical lines of the theory of algebraic numbers, would be a futile and impossible task. " We have tried to remain as close as possible to the original text in pre serving Heeke's rich, informal style of exposition. In a very few instances we have substituted modern terminology for Heeke's, e. g. , "torsion free group" for "pure group. " One problem for a student is the lack of exercises in the book. However, given the large number of texts available in algebraic number theory, this is not a serious drawback. In particular we recommend Number Fields by D. A. Marcus (Springer-Verlag) as a particularly rich source. We would like to thank James M. Vaughn Jr. and the Vaughn Foundation Fund for their encouragement and generous support of Jay R. Goldman without which this translation would never have appeared. Minneapolis George U. Brauer July 1981 Jay R.

. . . if one wants to make progress in mathematics one should study the masters not the pupils. N. H. Abel Heeke was certainly one of the masters, and in fact, the study of Heeke L series and Heeke operators has permanently embedded his name in the fabric of number theory. It is a rare occurrence when a master writes a basic book, and Heeke's Lectures on the Theory of Algebraic Numbers has become a classic. To quote another master, Andre Weil: "To improve upon Heeke, in a treatment along classical lines of the theory of algebraic numbers, would be a futile and impossible task. " We have tried to remain as close as possible to the original text in pre serving Heeke's rich, informal style of exposition. In a very few instances we have substituted modern terminology for Heeke's, e. g. , "torsion free group" for "pure group. " One problem for a student is the lack of exercises in the book. However, given the large number of texts available in algebraic number theory, this is not a serious drawback. In particular we recommend Number Fields by D. A. Marcus (Springer-Verlag) as a particularly rich source. We would like to thank James M. Vaughn Jr. and the Vaughn Foundation Fund for their encouragement and generous support of Jay R. Goldman without which this translation would never have appeared. Minneapolis George U. Brauer July 1981 Jay R.

The exposition of the classical theory of algebraic numbers is clear and thorough, and there is a large number of exercises as well as worked out numerical examples. A careful study of this book will provide a solid background to the learning of more recent topics.

Lectures on Number Theory is the first of its kind on the subject matter. It covers most of the topics that are standard in a modern first course on number theory, but also includes Dirichlet's famous results on class numbers and primes in arithmetic progressions.

Algebraic number theory introduces students to new algebraic notions as well as related concepts: groups, rings, fields, ideals, quotient rings, and quotient fields. This text covers the basics, from divisibility theory in principal ideal domains to the unit theorem, finiteness of the class number, and Hilbert ramification theory. 1970 edition.

Gauss famously referred to mathematics as the “queen of the sciences” and to number theory as the “queen of mathematics”. This book is an introduction to algebraic number theory, meaning the study of arithmetic in finite extensions of the rational number field Q . Originating in the work of Gauss, the foundations of modern algebraic number theory are due to Dirichlet, Dedekind, Kronecker, Kummer, and others. This book lays out basic results, including the three “fundamental theorems”: unique factorization of ideals, finiteness of the class number, and Dirichlet's unit theorem. While these theorems are by now quite classical, both the text and the exercises allude frequently to more recent developments. In addition to traversing the main highways, the book reveals some remarkable vistas by exploring scenic side roads. Several topics appear that are not present in the usual introductory texts. One example is the inclusion of an extensive discussion of the theory of elasticity, which provides a precise way of measuring the failure of unique factorization. The book is based on the author's notes from a course delivered at the University of Georgia; pains have been taken to preserve the conversational style of the original lectures.

The pioneering work of Pierre de Fermat has attracted the attention of mathematicians for over 350 years. This book provides an overview of the many properties of Fermat numbers and demonstrates their applications in areas such as number theory, probability theory, geometry, and signal processing. It is an ideal introduction to the basic mathematical ideas and algebraic methods connected with the Fermat numbers.