Claus Scheiderer

This textbook is designed for a one-year graduate course in real algebraic geometry, with a particular focus on positivity and sums of squares of polynomials. The first half of the book features a thorough introduction to ordered fields and real closed fields, including the Tarski–Seidenberg projection theorem and transfer principle. Classical results such as Artin's solution to Hilbert's 17th problem and Hilbert's theorems on sums of squares of polynomials are presented in detail. Other features include careful introductions to the real spectrum and to the geometry of semialgebraic sets. The second part studies Archimedean positivstellensätze in great detail and in various settings, together with important applications. The techniques and results presented here are fundamental to contemporary approaches to polynomial optimization. Important results on sums of squares on projective varieties are covered as well. The last part highlights applications to semidefinite programming and polynomial optimization, including recent research on semidefinite representation of convex sets. Written by a leading expert and based on courses taught for several years, the book assumes familiarity with the basics of commutative algebra and algebraic varieties, as can be covered in a one-semester first course. Over 350 exercises, of all levels of difficulty, are included in the book.

This book provides an introduction to fundamental methods and techniques of algebra over ordered fields. It is a revised and updated translation of the classic textbook Einführung in die reelle Algebra. Beginning with the basics of ordered fields and their real closures, the book proceeds to discuss methods for counting the number of real roots of polynomials. Followed by a thorough introduction to Krull valuations, this culminates in Artin's solution of Hilbert's 17th Problem. Next, the fundamental concept of the real spectrum of a commutative ring is introduced with applications. The final chapter gives a brief overview of important developments in real algebra and geometry—as far as they are directly related to the contents of the earlier chapters—since the publication of the original German edition. Real Algebra is aimed at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students who have a good grounding in linear algebra, field theory and ring theory. It also provides a carefully written reference for specialists in real algebra, real algebraic geometry and related fields.

This book makes a systematic study of the relations between the étale cohomology of a scheme and the orderings of its residue fields. A major result is that in high degrees, étale cohomology is cohomology of the real spectrum. It also contains new contributions in group cohomology and in topos theory. It is of interest to graduate students and researchers who work in algebraic geometry (not only real) and have some familiarity with the basics of étale cohomology and Grothendieck sites. Independently, it is of interest to people working in the cohomology theory of groups or in topos theory.

Dieses Buch will dem Leser eine Einfuhrung in wichtige Techniken und Methoden der heutigen reellen Algebra und Geometrie vermitteln. An Voraussetzungen werden dabei nur Grundkenntnisse der Algebra erwartet, so dass das Buch fur Studenten mittlerer Semester geeignet ist.Das erste Kapitel enthalt zunachst grundlegende Fakten uber angeordnete Korper und ihre reellen Abschlusse und behandelt dann verschiedene Methoden zur Bestimmung der Anzahl reeller Nullstellen von Polynomen. Das zweite Kapitel befasst sich mit reellen Stellen und gipfelt in Artins Losung des 17. Hilbertschen Problems. Kapitel III schliesslich ist dem noch jungen Begriff des reellen Spektrums und seinen Anwendungen gewidmet."Neben dem 1987 erschienenen "Geometrie algebrique reelle" von J. Bochnak-M. Coste- M. Roy stellt die vorliegende Monographie das erste Lehrbuch auf diesem Gebiet dar...Damit liegt eine sehr empfehlenswerte Einfuhrung...vor..." (H. Mitsch, Monatshefte fur Mathematik 3/111, 1991)