Includes bibliographical references (p. 379-395) and index.
"Combinatorial commutative algebra is an active area of research with thriving connections to other fields of pure and applied mathematics. This book provides a self-contained introduction to the subject, with an emphasis on combinatorial techniques for multigraded polynomial rings, semigroup algebras, and determinantal rings. Over 100 figures, 250 exercises, and pointers to the literature make this book appealing to both graduate students and researchers."--BOOK JACKET.