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A Brief Introduction to Classical and Adelic Algebraic ... - William Stein

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Chapter 2<br />

<strong>Introduction</strong><br />

2.1 Mathematical background I assume you have<br />

In addition <strong>to</strong> general mathematical maturity, this book assumes you have the<br />

following background:<br />

• Basics of finite group theory<br />

• Commutative rings, ideals, quotient rings<br />

• Some elementary number theory<br />

• Basic Galois theory of fields<br />

• Point set <strong>to</strong>pology<br />

• Basic of <strong>to</strong>pological rings, groups, <strong>and</strong> measure theory<br />

For example, if you have never worked with finite groups before, you should read<br />

another book first. If you haven’t seen much elementary ring theory, there is still<br />

hope, but you will have <strong>to</strong> do some additional reading <strong>and</strong> exercises. I will briefly<br />

review the basics of the Galois theory of number fields.<br />

Some of the homework problems involve using a computer, but I’ll give you<br />

examples which you can build on. I will not assume that you have a programming<br />

background or know much about algorithms. If you don’t have PARI [ABC + ] or<br />

Magma [BCP97], <strong>and</strong> don’t want <strong>to</strong> install either one on your computer, you might<br />

want <strong>to</strong> try the following online interface <strong>to</strong> PARI <strong>and</strong> Magma:<br />

http://modular.fas.harvard.edu/calc/<br />

9

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