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The Brauer–Grothendieck Group

  • Provides a self-contained introduction to the Brauer group of schemes
  • Presents recent applications to rational points on varieties and to rationality problems in algebraic geometry
  • Offers a detailed guide to the computation and finiteness of the Brauer group for various classes of varieties

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. Galois cohomology

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 3-42
  3. Étale cohomology

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 43-70
  4. Brauer groups of schemes

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 71-99
  5. Comparing the two Brauer groups, II

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 101-120
  6. Varieties over a field

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 121-163
  7. Birational invariance

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 165-179
  8. Severi–Brauer varieties and hypersurfaces

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 181-197
  9. Singular schemes and varieties

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 199-214
  10. Varieties with a group action

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 215-229
  11. Schemes over local rings and fields

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 231-262
  12. The Brauer group and families of varieties

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 263-293
  13. Rationality in a family

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 295-303
  14. The Brauer–Manin set and the formal lemma

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 305-344
  15. Are rational points dense in the Brauer–Manin set?

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 345-380
  16. The Brauer–Manin obstruction for zero-cycles

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 381-393
  17. The Tate conjecture, abelian varieties and K3 surfaces

    • Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène, Alexei N. Skorobogatov
    Pages 395-425
  18. Back Matter

    Pages 427-453

About this book

This monograph provides a systematic treatment of the Brauer group of schemes, from the foundational work of Grothendieck to recent applications in arithmetic and algebraic geometry.

The importance of the cohomological Brauer group for applications to Diophantine equations and algebraic geometry was discovered soon after this group was introduced by Grothendieck. The Brauer–Manin obstruction plays a crucial role in the study of rational points on varieties over global fields. The birational invariance of the Brauer group was recently used in a novel way to establish the irrationality of many new classes of algebraic varieties. The book covers the vast theory underpinning these and other applications.

Intended as an introduction to cohomological methods in algebraic geometry, most of the book is accessible to readers with a knowledge of algebra, algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory at graduate level. Much of the more advanced material is not readily available inbook form elsewhere; notably, de Jong’s proof of Gabber’s theorem, the specialisation method and applications of the Brauer group to rationality questions, an in-depth study of the Brauer–Manin obstruction, and proof of the finiteness theorem for the Brauer group of abelian varieties and K3 surfaces over finitely generated fields. The book surveys recent work but also gives detailed proofs of basic theorems, maintaining a balance between general theory and concrete examples.

Over half a century after Grothendieck's foundational seminars on the topic, The Brauer–Grothendieck Group is a treatise that fills a longstanding gap in the literature, providing researchers, including research students, with a valuable reference on a central object of algebraic and arithmetic geometry.

Reviews

“The book gives a comprehensive, clear, up-to date presentation of the theory, including most proofs. A particular strength is that it nicely collects many results, examples and counterexamples from various areas of algebraic and arithmetic geometry … . the book fills a wide gap and is a most welcome addition to the literature.” (Stefan Schröer, zbMATH 1490.14001, 2022)


“This book has collected in one place much of the fundamental cohomological theory of the Brauer group, along with excellent references. It then gives some coverage of further results, especially on the two important topics of obstructions to rationality and obstructions to the Hasse principle. For whatever is not included in this book, it gives a thorough and coherent overview of the relevant literature. Approximately four hundred references are given.” (Thomas Benedict Williams, Mathematical Reviews, September, 2022)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Laboratoire de mathématiques d'Orsay, Université Paris Saclay, CNRS, Orsay, France

    Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène

  • Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, Institute for the Information Transmission Problems, Moscow, Russia, London, UK

    Alexei N. Skorobogatov

About the authors

Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène works in arithmetic algebraic geometry. He contributed to the study of rational points and of zero-cycles on rationally connected varieties. This involved the use of torsors and the Brauer–Manin obstruction. He applied results from algebraic K-theory (unramified cohomology) to rationality problems, also in complex algebraic geometry. He is the author of some 150 research papers, many written with various collaborators. Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène received the Fermat prize and a Grand Prix de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris.

Alexei Skorobogatov works in arithmetic algebraic geometry with focus on rational points on algebraic varieties, the Brauer group and the Brauer–Manin obstruction, K3 surfaces and abelian varieties. He is the author of the book Torsors and Rational Points and over 75 research papers. Alexei Skorobogatov is the recipient of a Whitehead prize of the London Mathematical Society.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access