Algebraic geometry 

is a branch of mathematics, classically

studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the
use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for
solving geometrical problems about these sets of zeros.

The fundamental objects of study in algebraic geometry are algebraic varieties, which are
geometric manifestations of solutions of systems of polynomial equations. Examples of
the most studied classes of algebraic varieties are: plane algebraic curves, which
include lines, circles, parabolas, ellipses, hyperbolas, cubic curves like elliptic curves,
and quartic curves like lemniscates and Cassini ovals. A point of the plane belongs to an
algebraic curve if its coordinates satisfy a given polynomial equation. Basic questions
involve the study of the points of special interest like the singular points, the inflection
points and the points at infinity. More advanced questions involve the topology of the
curve and relations between the curves given by different equations.

Algebraic geometry occupies a central place in modern mathematics and has multiple
conceptual connections with such diverse fields as complex
analysis, topology and number theory. Initially a study of systems of polynomial
equations in several variables, the subject of algebraic geometry starts where equation
solving leaves off, and it becomes even more important to understand the intrinsic
properties of the totality of solutions of a system of equations, than to find a specific
solution; this leads into some of the deepest areas in all of mathematics, both
conceptually and in terms of technique.

In the 20th century, algebraic geometry split into several subareas.

 The mainstream of algebraic geometry is devoted to the study of the complex

points of the algebraic varieties and more generally to the points with
coordinates in an algebraically closed field.
 Real algebraic geometry is the study of the real points of an algebraic variety.
 Diophantine geometry and, more generally, arithmetic geometry is the study
of the points of an algebraic variety with coordinates in fields that are
not algebraically closed and occur in algebraic number theory, such as the
field of rational numbers, number fields, finite fields, function fields, and p-
adic fields.
 A large part of singularity theory is devoted to the singularities of algebraic
varieties.
 Computational algebraic geometry is an area that has emerged at the
intersection of algebraic geometry and computer algebra, with the rise of
computers. It consists mainly of algorithm design and software development
for the study of properties of explicitly given algebraic varieties.

Much of the development of the mainstream of algebraic geometry in the 20th century
occurred within an abstract algebraic framework, with increasing emphasis being placed
on "intrinsic" properties of algebraic varieties not dependent on any particular way of
embedding the variety in an ambient coordinate space; this parallels developments
in topology, differential and complex geometry. One key achievement of this abstract
algebraic geometry is Grothendieck's scheme theory which allows one to use sheaf
theory to study algebraic varieties in a way which is very similar to its use in the study
of differential and analytic manifolds. This is obtained by extending the notion of point: In
classical algebraic geometry, a point of an affine variety may be identified,
through Hilbert's Nullstellensatz, with a maximal ideal of the coordinate ring, while the
points of the corresponding affine scheme are all prime ideals of this ring. This means
that a point of such a scheme may be either a usual point or a subvariety. This approach
also enables a unification of the language and the tools of classical algebraic geometry,
mainly concerned with complex points, and of algebraic number theory. Wiles' proof of
the longstanding conjecture called Fermat's Last Theorem is an example of the power of
this approach.

Contents

 1Basic notions

o 1.1Zeros of simultaneous polynomials

o 1.2Affine varieties

o 1.3Regular functions

o 1.4Morphism of affine varieties

o 1.5Rational function and birational equivalence

o 1.6Projective variety

 2Real algebraic geometry

 3Computational algebraic geometry

o 3.1Gröbner basis

o 3.2Cylindrical algebraic decomposition (CAD)

o 3.3Asymptotic complexity vs. practical efficiency

 4Abstract modern viewpoint

 5History
 o 5.1Before the 16th century

o 5.2Renaissance

o 5.319th and early 20th century

o 5.420th century

 6Analytic geometry

 7Applications

 8See also

 9Notes

 10References

o 10.1Sources

 11Further reading

 12External links

Basic notions[edit]
Further information: Algebraic variety

Zeros of simultaneous polynomials[edit]

Sphere and slanted circle

In classical algebraic geometry, the main objects of interest are the vanishing sets of
collections of polynomials, meaning the set of all points that simultaneously satisfy one or
more polynomial equations. For instance, the two-dimensional sphere of radius 1 in
three-dimensional Euclidean space R3 could be defined as the set of all points (x,y,z) with

A "slanted" circle in R3 can be defined as the set of all points (x,y,z) which satisfy the
two polynomial equations

Affine varieties[edit]
Main article: Affine variety

First we start with a field k. In classical algebraic geometry, this field was
always the complex numbers C, but many of the same results are true if we
assume only that k is algebraically closed. We consider the affine space of
dimension n over k, denoted An(k) (or more simply An, when k is clear from
the context). When one fixes a coordinate system, one may identify An(k)
with kn. The purpose of not working with kn is to emphasize that one "forgets"
the vector space structure that kn carries.

A function f : An → A1 is said to be polynomial (or regular) if it can be written

as a polynomial, that is, if there is a polynomial p in k[x1,...,xn] such that f(M)
= p(t1,...,tn) for every point M with coordinates (t1,...,tn) in An. The property of a
function to be polynomial (or regular) does not depend on the choice of a
coordinate system in An.

When a coordinate system is chosen, the regular functions on the affine n-

space may be identified with the ring of polynomial functions in n variables
over k. Therefore, the set of the regular functions on An is a ring, which is
denoted k[An].

We say that a polynomial vanishes at a point if evaluating it at that point

gives zero. Let S be a set of polynomials in k[An]. The vanishing set of
S (or vanishing locus or zero set) is the set V(S) of all points in An where
every polynomial in S vanishes. Symbolically,

A subset of An which is V(S), for some S, is called an algebraic set.

The V stands for variety (a specific type of algebraic set to be defined
below).

Given a subset U of An, can one recover the set of polynomials which

generate it? If U is any subset of An, define I(U) to be the set of all
polynomials whose vanishing set contains U. The I stands for ideal: if
two polynomials f and g both vanish on U, then f+g vanishes on U, and
if h is any polynomial, then hf vanishes on U, so I(U) is always an ideal
of the polynomial ring k[An].

Two natural questions to ask are:

 Given a subset U of An, when is U = V(I(U))?

 Given a set S of polynomials, when is S = I(V(S))?
The answer to the first question is provided by introducing the Zariski
topology, a topology on An whose closed sets are the algebraic sets, and
which directly reflects the algebraic structure of k[An]. Then U = V(I(U)) if
and only if U is an algebraic set or equivalently a Zariski-closed set. The
answer to the second question is given by Hilbert's Nullstellensatz. In
one of its forms, it says that I(V(S)) is the radical of the ideal generated
by S. In more abstract language, there is a Galois connection, giving rise
to two closure operators; they can be identified, and naturally play a
basic role in the theory; the example is elaborated at Galois connection.

For various reasons we may not always want to work with the entire
ideal corresponding to an algebraic set U. Hilbert's basis
theorem implies that ideals in k[An] are always finitely generated.

An algebraic set is called irreducible if it cannot be written as the union

of two smaller algebraic sets. Any algebraic set is a finite union of
irreducible algebraic sets and this decomposition is unique. Thus its
elements are called the irreducible components of the algebraic set. An
irreducible algebraic set is also called a variety. It turns out that an
algebraic set is a variety if and only if it may be defined as the vanishing
set of a prime ideal of the polynomial ring.

Some authors do not make a clear distinction between algebraic sets

and varieties and use irreducible variety to make the distinction when
needed.

Regular functions[edit]
Main article: Regular function

Just as continuous functions are the natural maps on topological

spaces and smooth functions are the natural maps on differentiable
manifolds, there is a natural class of functions on an algebraic set,
called regular functions or polynomial functions. A regular function on an
algebraic set V contained in An is the restriction to V of a regular function
on An. For an algebraic set defined on the field of the complex numbers,
the regular functions are smooth and even analytic.

It may seem unnaturally restrictive to require that a regular function

always extend to the ambient space, but it is very similar to the situation
in a normal topological space, where the Tietze extension
theorem guarantees that a continuous function on a closed subset
always extends to the ambient topological space.

Just as with the regular functions on affine space, the regular functions
on V form a ring, which we denote by k[V]. This ring is called
the coordinate ring of V.
Since regular functions on V come from regular functions on An, there is
a relationship between the coordinate rings. Specifically, if a regular
function on V is the restriction of two functions f and g in k[An],
then f − g is a polynomial function which is null on V and thus belongs
to I(V). Thus k[V] may be identified with k[An]/I(V).

Morphism of affine varieties[edit]

Using regular functions from an affine variety to A1, we can
define regular maps from one affine variety to another. First we will
define a regular map from a variety into affine space: Let V be a variety
contained in An. Choose m regular functions on V, and call them f1, ..., fm.
We define a regular map f from V to Am by letting f = (f1, ..., fm). In other
words, each fi determines one coordinate of the range of f.

If V′ is a variety contained in Am, we say that f is a regular

map from V to V′ if the range of f is contained in V′.

The definition of the regular maps apply also to algebraic sets. The
regular maps are also called morphisms, as they make the collection of
all affine algebraic sets into a category, where the objects are the affine
algebraic sets and the morphisms are the regular maps. The affine
varieties is a subcategory of the category of the algebraic sets.

Given a regular map g from V to V′ and a regular function f of k[V′],

then f ∘ g ∈ k[V]. The map f → f ∘ g is a ring homomorphism from k[V′]
to k[V]. Conversely, every ring homomorphism from k[V′] to k[V] defines
a regular map from V to V′. This defines an equivalence of
categories between the category of algebraic sets and the opposite
category of the finitely generated reduced k-algebras. This equivalence
is one of the starting points of scheme theory.

Rational function and birational equivalence[edit]

Main article: Rational mapping

In contrast to the preceding sections, this section concerns only varieties

and not algebraic sets. On the other hand, the definitions extend
naturally to projective varieties (next section), as an affine variety and its
projective completion have the same field of functions.

If V is an affine variety, its coordinate ring is an integral domain and has

thus a field of fractions which is denoted k(V) and called the field of the
rational functions on V or, shortly, the function field of V. Its elements are
the restrictions to V of the rational functions over the affine space
containing V. The domain of a rational function f is not V but
the complement of the subvariety (a hypersurface) where the
denominator of f vanishes.

As with regular maps, one may define a rational map from a variety V to

a variety V'. As with the regular maps, the rational maps from V to V'
may be identified to the field homomorphisms from k(V') to k(V).

Two affine varieties are birationally equivalent if there are two rational

functions between them which are inverse one to the other in the regions
where both are defined. Equivalently, they are birationally equivalent if
their function fields are isomorphic.

An affine variety is a rational variety if it is birationally equivalent to an

affine space. This means that the variety admits a rational
parameterization, that is a parametrization with rational functions. For
example, the circle of equation  is a rational curve, as it has
the parametric equation