Algebraic Number Theory
Algebraic Number Theory Sergey Shpectorov January{March, 2010 This course in on algebraic number theory. This means studying problems from number theory with methods from abstract algebra. For a long time the main motivation behind the development of algebraic number theory was the Fermat Last Theorem. Proven in 1995 by Wiles with the help of Taylor, this theorem states that there are no positive integers x, y and z satisfying the equation xn + yn = zn; where n ≥ 3 is an integer. The proof of this statement for the particular case n = 4 goes back to Fibonacci, who lived four hundred years before Fermat. Modulo Fibonacci's result, Fermat Last Theorem needs to be proven only for the cases where n = p is an odd prime. By the end of the course we will hopefully see, as an application of our theory, how to prove the Fermat Last Theorem for the so-called regular primes. The idea of this belongs to Kummer, although we will, of course, use more modern notation and methods. Another accepted definition of algebraic number theory is that it studies the so-called number fields, which are the finite extensions of the field of ra- tional numbers Q. We mention right away, however, that most of this theory applies also in the second important case, known as the case of function fields. For example, finite extensions of the field of complex rational functions C(x) are function fields. We will stress the similarities and differences between the two types of fields, as appropriate. Finite extensions of Q are algebraic, and this ties algebraic number the- ory with Galois theory, which is an important prerequisite for us.
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