Revised edition of: Algebraic number theory. 2nd. 1987.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-308) and index.
Algebraic background -- Algebraic numbers -- Quadratic and cyclotomic fields -- Factorization into irreducibles -- Ideals -- Lattices -- Minkowski's theorem -- Geometric representation of algebraic numbers -- Class-group and class-number -- Computational methods -- Kummer's special case of Fermat's last theorem -- The path to the final breakthrough -- Elliptic curves -- Elliptic functions -- Appendices. A. Quadratic residues ; B. Dirichlet's units theorem.
0
One of the latest mathematical discoveries was the proof, by Andrew Wiles, of Fermat's last theorum, a 300-year old conjecture that had eluded professional mathematicians as well as serious amateurs. This revised edition introduces all elements necessary for understanding Wiles' proof.