Numbers-Ruth

This work has become the standard introduction to the theory of p-adic numbers. The 2nd edition adds a deeper treatment of p-adic functions, including the Iwasawa logarithm and the p-adic gamma-functi

The first edition of this work has become the standard introduction to the theory of p-adic numbers at both the advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level. This second edition includes a deep

This introduction to recent work in p-adic analysis and number theory will make accessible to a relatively general audience the efforts of a number of mathematicians over the last five years. After reviewing the basics (the construction of p-adic numbers and the p-adic analog of the complex number field, power series and Newton polygons), the author develops the properties of p-adic Dirichlet L-series using p-adic measures and integration. p-adic gamma functions are introduced, and their relationship to L-series is explored. Analogies with the corresponding complex analytic case are stressed. Then a formula for Gauss sums in terms of the p-adic gamma function is proved using the cohomology of Fermat and Artin-Schreier curves. Graduate students and research workers in number theory, algebraic geometry and parts of algebra and analysis will welcome this account of current research.