This text on a central area of number theory covers p-adic L-functions, class numbers, cyclotomic units, Fermat’s Last Theorem, and Iwasawa’s theory of Z_p-extensions. This edition contains a new chapter on the work of Thaine, Kolyvagin, and Rubin, including a proof of the Main Conjecture, as well as a chapter on other recent developments, such as primality testing via Jacobi sums and Sinnott’s proof of the vanishing of Iwasawa’s f-invariant.

Kummer's work on cyclotomic fields paved the way for the development of algebraic number theory in general by Dedekind, Weber, Hensel, Hilbert, Takagi, Artin and others. However, the success of this general theory has tended to obscure special facts proved by Kummer about cyclotomic fields which lie deeper than the general theory. For a long period in the 20th century this aspect of Kummer's work seems to have been largely forgotten, except for a few papers, among which are those by Pollaczek [Po], Artin-Hasse [A-H] and Vandiver [Va]. In the mid 1950's, the theory of cyclotomic fields was taken up again by Iwasawa and Leopoldt. Iwasawa viewed cyclotomic fields as being analogues for number fields of the constant field extensions of algebraic geometry, and wrote a great sequence of papers investigating towers of cyclotomic fields, and more generally, Galois extensions of number fields whose Galois group is isomorphic to the additive group of p-adic integers. Leopoldt concentrated on a fixed cyclotomic field, and established various p-adic analogues of the classical complex analytic class number formulas. In particular, this led him to introduce, with Kubota, p-adic analogues of the complex L-functions attached to cyclotomic extensions of the rationals. Finally, in the late 1960's, Iwasawa [Iw 11] made the fundamental discovery that there was a close connection between his work on towers of cyclotomic fields and these p-adic L-functions of Leopoldt - Kubota.

Written by two leading workers in the field, this brief but elegant book presents in full detail the simplest proof of the "main conjecture" for cyclotomic fields. Its motivation stems not only from the inherent beauty of the subject, but also from the wider arithmetic interest of these questions. From the reviews: "The text is written in a clear and attractive style, with enough explanation helping the reader orientate in the midst of technical details." --ZENTRALBLATT MATH

Requiring no more than a basic knowledge of abstract algebra, this text presents the mathematics of number fields in a straightforward, pedestrian manner. It therefore avoids local methods and presents proofs in a way that highlights the important parts of the arguments. Readers are assumed to be able to fill in the details, which in many places are left as exercises.

This book grew. out of lectures given at the University of Maryland in 1979/1980. The purpose was to give a treatment of p-adic L-functions and cyclotomic fields, including Iwasawa's theory of Zp-extensions, which was accessible to mathematicians of varying backgrounds. The reader is assumed to have had at least one semester of algebraic number theory (though one of my students took such a course concurrently). In particular, the following terms should be familiar: Dedekind domain, class number, discriminant, units, ramification, local field. Occasionally one needs the fact that ramification can be computed locally. However, one who has a good background in algebra should be able to survive by talking to the local algebraic number theorist. I have not assumed class field theory; the basic facts are summarized in an appendix. For most of the book, one only needs the fact that the Galois group of the maximal unramified abelian extension is isomorphic to the ideal class group, and variants of this statement. The chapters are intended to be read consecutively, but it should be possible to vary the order considerably. The first four chapters are basic. After that, the reader willing to believe occasional facts could probably read the remaining chapters randomly. For example, the reader might skip directly to Chapter 13 to learn about Zp-extensions. The last chapter, on the Kronecker-Weber theorem, can be read after Chapter 2.

Valuation theory is used constantly in algebraic number theory and field theory, and is currently gaining considerable research interest. Ribenboim fills a unique niche in the literature as he presents one of the first introductions to classical valuation theory in this up-to-date rendering of the authors long-standing experience with the applications of the theory. The presentation is fully up-to-date and will serve as a valuable resource for students and mathematicians.

This book introduces the theory of modular forms, from which all rational elliptic curves arise, with an eye toward the Modularity Theorem. Discussion covers elliptic curves as complex tori and as algebraic curves; modular curves as Riemann surfaces and as algebraic curves; Hecke operators and Atkin-Lehner theory; Hecke eigenforms and their arithmetic properties; the Jacobians of modular curves and the Abelian varieties associated to Hecke eigenforms. As it presents these ideas, the book states the Modularity Theorem in various forms, relating them to each other and touching on their applications to number theory. The authors assume no background in algebraic number theory and algebraic geometry. Exercises are included.

The fields of algebraic functions of one variable appear in several areas of mathematics: complex analysis, algebraic geometry, and number theory. This text adopts the latter perspective by applying an arithmetic-algebraic viewpoint to the study of function fields as part of the algebraic theory of numbers. The examination explains both the similarities and fundamental differences between function fields and number fields, including many exercises and examples to enhance understanding and motivate further study. The only prerequisites are a basic knowledge of field theory, complex analysis, and some commutative algebra.

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.

This book is devoted entirely to the theory of finite fields.