Algebraic Geometry
The field of algebraic geometry is the modern incarnation of the Cartesian geometry of co-ordinates. From late 1950s through mid-1970s it had undergone major foundational development, largely due to work of Jean-Pierre Serre and Alexander Grothendieck. This led to the introduction of schemes and greater emphasis on topological methods, including various cohomology theories. One of seven Millennium Prize problems, the Hodge conjecture, is a question in algebraic geometry.
The study of low dimensional algebraic varieties, algebraic curves, algebraic surfaces and algebraic varieties of dimension 3 ("algebraic threefolds"), has been far advanced. Gröbner basis theory and real algebraic geometry are among more applied subfields of modern algebraic geometry. Arithmetic geometry is an active field combining algebraic geometry and number theory. Other directions of research involve moduli spaces and complex geometry. Algebro-geometric methods are commonly applied in string and brane theory.
Read more about this topic: Geometry, Contemporary Geometry
Famous quotes containing the words algebraic and/or geometry:
“I have no scheme about it,—no designs on men at all; and, if I had, my mode would be to tempt them with the fruit, and not with the manure. To what end do I lead a simple life at all, pray? That I may teach others to simplify their lives?—and so all our lives be simplified merely, like an algebraic formula? Or not, rather, that I may make use of the ground I have cleared, to live more worthily and profitably?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)