Every finite separable field extension F/K carries a canonical inner product, given by trace(xy). This symmetric K-bilinear form is the trace form of F/K.When F is an algebraic number field and K is the field Q of rational numbers, the trace form goes back at least 100 years to Hermite and Sylvester. These notes present the first systematic treatment of the trace form as an object in its own right. Chapter I discusses the trace form of F/Q up to Witt equivalence in the Witt ring W(Q). Special attention is paid to the Witt classes arising from normal extensions F/Q. Chapter II contains a detailed analysis of trace forms over p-adic fields. These local results are applied in Chapter III to prove that a Witt class X in W(Q) is represented by the trace form of an extension F/Q if and only if X has non-negative signature. Chapter IV discusses integral trace forms, obtained by restricting the trace form of F/Q to the ring of algebraic integers in F. When F/Q is normal, the Galois group acts as a group of isometries of the integral trace form. It is proved that when F/Q is normal of prime degree, the integral form is determined up to equivariant integral equivalence by the discriminant of F alone. Chapter V discusses the equivariant Witt theory of trace forms of normal extensions F/Q and Chapter VI relates the trace form of F/Q to questions of ramification in F. These notes were written in an effort to identify central problems. There are many open problems listed in the text. An introduction to Witt theory is included and illustrative examples are discussed throughout.

Every finite separable field extension F/K carries a canonical inner product, given by trace(xy). This symmetric K-bilinear form is the trace form of F/K.When F is an algebraic number field and K is the field Q of rational numbers, the trace form goes back at least 100 years to Hermite and Sylvester. These notes present the first systematic treatment of the trace form as an object in its own right. Chapter I discusses the trace form of F/Q up to Witt equivalence in the Witt ring W(Q). Special attention is paid to the Witt classes arising from normal extensions F/Q. Chapter II contains a detailed analysis of trace forms over p-adic fields. These local results are applied in Chapter III to prove that a Witt class X in W(Q) is represented by the trace form of an extension F/Q if and only if X has non-negative signature. Chapter IV discusses integral trace forms, obtained by restricting the trace form of F/Q to the ring of algebraic integers in F. When F/Q is normal, the Galois group acts as a group of isometries of the integral trace form. It is proved that when F/Q is normal of prime degree, the integral form is determined up to equivariant integral equivalence by the discriminant of F alone. Chapter V discusses the equivariant Witt theory of trace forms of normal extensions F/Q and Chapter VI relates the trace form of F/Q to questions of ramification in F. These notes were written in an effort to identify central problems. There are many open problems listed in the text. An introduction to Witt theory is included and illustrative examples are discussed throughout.

The first section of the book deals with some of the influential mathematics departments in the United States. Functioning as centers of research and training, these departments played a major role in shaping the mathematical life in this country. The second section deals with an extraordinary conference held at Princeton in 1946 to commemorate the university's bicentennial. The influence of women in American mathematics, the burgeoning of differential geometry in the last 50 years, and discussions of the work of von Karman and Weiner are among other topics covered.

This is a selection of high quality articles on number theory by leading figures.

This new version of the author's prizewinning book, Algebraic Theory of Quadratic Forms (W. A. Benjamin, Inc., 1973), gives a modern and self-contained introduction to the theory of quadratic forms over fields of characteristic different from two. Starting with few prerequisites beyond linear algebra, the author charts an expert course from Witt's classical theory of quadratic forms, quaternion and Clifford algebras, Artin-Schreier theory of formally real fields, and structural theorems on Witt rings, to the theory of Pfister forms, function fields, and field invariants. These main developments are seamlessly interwoven with excursions into Brauer-Wall groups, local and global fields, trace forms, Galois theory, and elementary algebraic K-theory, to create a uniquely original treatment of quadratic form theory over fields. Two new chapters totaling more than 100 pages have been added to the earlier incarnation of this book to take into account some of the newer results and more recent viewpoints in the area. As is characteristic of this author's expository style, the presentation of the main material in this book is interspersed with a copious number of carefully chosen examples to illustrate the general theory. This feature, together with a rich stock of some 280 exercises for the thirteen chapters, greatly enhances the pedagogical value of this book, both as a graduate text and as a reference work for researchers in algebra, number theory, algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, and geometric topology.

This book details the classical part of the theory of algebraic number theory, excluding class-field theory and its consequences. Coverage includes: ideal theory in rings of algebraic integers, p-adic fields and their finite extensions, ideles and adeles, zeta-functions, distribution of prime ideals, Abelian fields, the class-number of quadratic fields, and factorization problems. The book also features exercises and a list of open problems.

The papers collected here present an up-to-date record of the current research developments in the fields of real algebraic geometry and quadratic forms. Articles range from the technical to the expository and there are also indications to new research directions.

Giving an easily accessible elementary introduction to the algebraic theory of quadratic forms, this book covers both Witt's theory and Pfister's theory of quadratic forms. Leading topics include the geometry of bilinear spaces, classification of bilinear spaces up to isometry depending on the ground field, formally real fields, Pfister forms, the Witt ring of an arbitrary field (characteristic two included), prime ideals of the Witt ring, Brauer group of a field, Hasse and Witt invariants of quadratic forms, and equivalence of fields with respect to quadratic forms. Problem sections are included at the end of each chapter. There are two appendices: the first gives a treatment of Hasse and Witt invariants in the language of Steinberg symbols, and the second contains some more advanced problems in 10 groups, including the u-invariant, reduced and stable Witt rings, and Witt equivalence of fields.

Volume 2 of two - also available in a set of both volumes.