This monograph deals with symmetries of compact Riemann surfaces. A symmetry of a compact Riemann surface S is an antianalytic involution of S. It is well known that Riemann surfaces exhibiting symmetry correspond to algebraic curves which can be defined over the field of real numbers. In this monograph we consider three topics related to the topology of symmetries, namely the number of conjugacy classes of symmetries, the numbers of ovals of symmetries and the symmetry types of Riemann surfaces.

In this book, Miranda takes the approach that algebraic curves are best encountered for the first time over the complex numbers, where the reader's classical intuition about surfaces, integration, and other concepts can be brought into play. Therefore, many examples of algebraic curves are presented in the first chapters. In this way, the book begins as a primer on Riemann surfaces, with complex charts and meromorphic functions taking centre stage. But the main examples come fromprojective curves, and slowly but surely the text moves toward the algebraic category. Proofs of the Riemann-Roch and Serre Dualtiy Theorems are presented in an algebraic manner, via an adaptation of the adelic proof, expressed completely in terms of solving a Mittag-Leffler problem. Sheaves andcohomology are introduced as a unifying device in the later chapters, so that their utility and naturalness are immediately obvious. Requiring a background of one term of complex variable theory and a year of abstract algebra, this is an excellent graduate textbook for a second-term course in complex variables or a year-long course in algebraic geometry.

This volume contains the proceedings of the conference on Riemann and Klein Surfaces, Symmetries and Moduli Spaces, in honor of Emilio Bujalance, held from June 24-28, 2013, at Linköping University. The conference and this volume are devoted to the mathematics that Emilio Bujalance has worked with in the following areas, all with a computational flavor: Riemann and Klein surfaces, automorphisms of real and complex surfaces, group actions on surfaces and topological properties of moduli spaces of complex curves and Abelian varieties.

This highly readable book aims to ease the many challenges of starting undergraduate research. It accomplishes this by presenting a diverse series of self-contained, accessible articles which include specific open problems and prepare the reader to tackle them with ample background material and references. Each article also contains a carefully selected bibliography for further reading. The content spans the breadth of mathematics, including many topics that are not normally addressed by the undergraduate curriculum (such as matroid theory, mathematical biology, and operations research), yet have few enough prerequisites that the interested student can start exploring them under the guidance of a faculty member. Whether trying to start an undergraduate thesis, embarking on a summer REU, or preparing for graduate school, this book is appropriate for a variety of students and the faculty who guide them.

Original research and expert surveys on Riemann surfaces.

Automorphism groups of Riemann surfaces have been widely studied for almost 150 years. This area has persisted in part because it has close ties to many other topics of interest such as number theory, graph theory, mapping class groups, and geometric and computational group theory. In recent years there has been a major revival in this area due in part to great advances in computer algebra systems and progress in finite group theory. This volume provides a concise but thorough introduction for newcomers to the area while at the same time highlighting new developments for established researchers. The volume starts with two expository articles. The first of these articles gives a historical perspective of the field with an emphasis on highly symmetric surfaces, such as Hurwitz surfaces. The second expository article focuses on the future of the field, outlining some of the more popular topics in recent years and providing 78 open research problems across all topics. The remaining articles showcase new developments in the area and have specifically been chosen to cover a variety of topics to illustrate the range of diversity within the field.

This book constitutes the proceedings of a conference held at the University of Birmingham to mark the retirement of Professor A. M. Macbeath. The papers represent up-to-date work on a broad spectrum of topics in the theory of discrete group actions, ranging from presentations of finite groups through the detailed study of Fuchsian and crystallographic groups, to applications of group actions in low dimensional topology, complex analysis, algebraic geometry and number theory. For those wishing to pursue research in these areas, this volume offers a valuable summary of contemporary thought and a source of fresh geometric insights.

This volume contains seventeen of the best papers delivered at the SIGMAP Workshop 2014, representing the most recent advances in the field of symmetries of discrete objects and structures, with a particular emphasis on connections between maps, Riemann surfaces and dessins d’enfant.Providing the global community of researchers in the field with the opportunity to gather, converse and present their newest findings and advances, the Symmetries In Graphs, Maps, and Polytopes Workshop 2014 was the fifth in a series of workshops. The initial workshop, organized by Steve Wilson in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1998, was followed in 2002 and 2006 by two meetings held in Aveiro, Portugal, organized by Antonio Breda d’Azevedo, and a fourth workshop held in Oaxaca, Mexico, organized by Isabel Hubard in 2010.This book should appeal to both specialists and those seeking a broad overview of what is happening in the area of symmetries of discrete objects and structures.iv>

The goal of the book is to present a tapestry of ideas from various areas of mathematics in a clear and rigorous yet informal and friendly way. Prerequisites include undergraduate courses in real analysis and in linear algebra, and some knowledge of complex analysis. --from publisher description.