The topic of this thesis is the application of distributive laws between comonads to the theory of cyclic homology. The work herein is based on the three papers 'Cyclic homology arising from adjunctions', 'Factorisations of distributive laws', and 'Hochschild homology, lax codescent,and duplicial structure', to which the current author has contributed. Explicitly, our main aims are: 1) To study how the cyclic homology of associative algebras and of Hopf algebras in the original sense of Connes and Moscovici arises from a distributive law, and to clarify the role of different notions of bimonad in this generalisation. 2) To extend the procedure of twisting the cyclic homology of a unital associative algebra to any duplicial object defined by a distributive law. 3) To study the universality of Bohm and Stefan’s approach to constructing duplicial objects, which we do in terms of a 2-categorical generalisation of Hochschild (co)homology. 4) To characterise those categories whose nerve admits a duplicial structure.

We introduce two different properties of representations of the free group of rank 2 into the group of hyperbolic isometries PSL(2,C): BQ conditions and primitive stability. We investigate relations between the sets of characters satisfying these conditions, and study certain slices of the character variety separately. The results we get are in line with the conjecture that these two sets actually coincide. We also show that in the diagonal slice of the character variety, namely the set of representations with associated trace triple (z, z, z), z E C, there exists a large class of primitive stable representations which are not discrete and faithful.

Combinatorial group theory is a part of group theory that deals with groups given by presentations in terms of generators and defining relations. Many techniques both algebraic and geometric are used in dealing with problems in this area. In this thesis, we adopt the geometric approach. More specifically, we use so-called pictures over relative presentations to determine the asphericity of such presentations. We remark that if a relative presentation is aspherical then group theoretic information can be deduced. In Chapter 1, the concept of relative presentations is introduced and we state the main theorems and some known results. In Chapter 2, the concept of pictures is introduced and methods used for checking asphericity are explained. Excluding four unresolved cases, the asphericity of the relative presentation $\mathcal{P}$= $\langle G, x|x^{m}gxh\rangle$ for $m\geq2$ is determined in Chapter 3. If $H=\langle g, h\rangle$ $\leq G$, then the unresolved cases occur when $H$ is isomorphic to $C_{5}$ or $C_{6}$. The main work is done in Chapter 4, in which we investigate the asphericity of the relative presentation $\mathcal{P}$= $\langle G, x|xaxbxcxdxexf\rangle$, where the coefficients $a, b, c, d, e, f\in G$ and $x \notin G$ and prove the theorems stated in Chapter 1.

The algebra of densities can be seen to have origins dating back to the 19th century where densities were used to find invariants of the modular group. Since then they have continued to be a source of projective invariants and cocycles related with the projective group, most notably the Schwarzian derivative. One of the first times that the algebra of densities appears in the literature in a similar guise to the way we shall introduce it, is in the work of T.Y. Thomas. He showed that a projective connection on a manifold allows one to determine a canonical affine connection on the total space of a certain bundle which is now known as Thomas' bundle. More recently they have appeared, with the definition we shall use, by H. Khudaverdian and Th. Voronov when studying second order operators generating certain brackets. Of prime importance in this situation is the case of Gerstenhaber algebras and in particular the Batalin-Vilkovisky operator on the odd cotangent bundle. They have also been used by V.Y. Ovsienko and his group in the area of equivariant quantization which is a topic we shall come across in the text. Densities also regularly appear in physics. For example the correct interpretation of a wavefunction is a half-density on a manifold, and this explains their transformation properties under the Galilean group. These results motivate a study into the geometric structure of the algebra of densities as an object in their own right. We shall see that by considering them as a whole algebra many classical results have a clear geometrical picture. Moreover one finds that there are a wealth of areas within this algebra still to explore. We focused on two fundamental classes of objects, differential operators and Poisson structures. The results we find lead to interesting formula for certain equivariantly defined differential operators which can be applied to gain a wide class of cocycles similar to the Schwarzian derivative. We also find very intimate links with Batalin-Vilkovisky geometry and the methods we use show that it may be useful to consider the full algebra of densities when entering into this arena.

Our aim is to investigate perfect isometry groups, which are invariants for blocks of finite groups. There are two subgoals. First is to study some properties of perfect isometry groups in general. We found that every perfect isometry has essentially a unique sign. This allowed us to show that, in many cases, a perfect isometry group contains a direct factor generated by -id. The second subgoal is to calculate perfect isometry groups for various blocks. Notable results include the perfect isometry groups for blocks with defect 1, abelian p-groups, extra special p-groups, and the principal 2-block of the Suzuki group Sz(q). In the case of blocks with defect 1, we also showed that every perfect isometry can be induced by a derived equivalence. With the help of a computer, we also calculated perfect isometry groups for some blocks of sporadic simple groups.Apart from perfect isometries, we also investigated self-isotypies in the special case where C_G(x) is a p-group whenever x is a p-element. We applied our result to calculate isotypies in cyclic p-groups and the principal 2-blocks of the Suzuki group Sz(q).

In this thesis we study the chamber graphs of the geometries ΓpA2nΓ1q, Γp3A7q, ΓpL2p11qq and ΓpL2p25qq which are related to the Petersen graph [4, 13]. In Chapter 2 we look at the chamber graph of ΓpA2nΓ1q and see what minimal paths between chambers look like. Chapter 3 finds and proves the diameter of these chamber graphs and we see what two chambers might look like if they are as far apart as possible. We discover the full automorphism group of the chamber graph. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 focus on the chamber graphs of ΓpL2p11qq,ΓpL2p25qq and Γp3A7q respectively. We ask questions such as what two chambers look like if they are as far apart as possible, and we find the automorphism groups of the chamber graphs.

Beatty sets (also called Beatty sequences) have appeared as early as 1772 in the astronomical studies of Johann III Bernoulli as a tool for easing manual calculations and - as Elwin Bruno Christoffel pointed out in 1888 - lend themselves to exposing intricate properties of the real irrationals. Since then, numerous researchers have explored a multitude of arithmetic properties of Beatty sets; the interrelation between Beatty sets and modular inversion, as well as Beatty sets and the set of rational primes, being the central topic of this book. The inquiry into the relation to rational primes is complemented by considering a natural generalisation to imaginary quadratic number fields. / Zu gegebener Beatty-Menge \(\mathscr{B}(\alpha,\beta) = \{ n\alpha+\beta : n\in\mathbb{N} \}\) mit irrationalem \(\alpha>1\) und \(\beta\in\mathbb{R}\), sowie gegebener Primzahl \(p\) und hierzu teilerfremdem \(z\) untersuchen wir das Problem der Auffindung von Punkten \((m,\tilde{m})\) auf der modularen Hyperbel \[ \mathscr{H}_{z,p} = \{(m,\tilde{m}) \in \mathbb{Z}^2\cap[1,p )^2 : m\tilde{m}\equiv z\mod p\} \] mit \(\max\{ m, \tilde{m} \}\) so klein wie möglich, d.h. wir für gewisse \(\alpha\) beweisen nichttriviale Abschätzungen für \[ \min\{ \max\{ m, \tilde{m} \} : (m,\tilde{m})\in\mathscr{H}_{z,p}, \, m\in\mathscr{B}(\alpha,\beta) \}. \] Der Beweis fußt auf neuen Abschätzungen für unvollständige Kloosterman-Summen entlang \(\mathscr{B}(\alpha,\beta)\), welche durch das Speisen einer Methode von Banks und Shparlinski mit neuen Abschätzungen für die periodische Autokorrelation der endlichen Folge \[ 0,\, \operatorname{e}_p(y\overline{1}),\, \operatorname{e}_p(y\overline{2}),\, \ldots,\, \operatorname{e}_p(y\overline{p-1}), \quad \text{with \(y\) indivisible by \(p\)}, \] erhalten werden; (Hierbei bezeichnet \(\overline{m}\) die eindeutige natürliche Zahl \(m'\in[1,p)\) mit \(mm'\equiv 1\bmod p\) und wir schreiben \(\operatorname{e}_p(x) = \exp(2\pi i x/p)\).) Für letzteres adaptieren wir Ideen von Kloosterman. Des weiteren untersuchen wir Mengen der Form \(\{\lfloor m\alpha_1+n\alpha_2+\beta\rfloor : m,n\in\mathbb{N} \}\). Wir zeigen, dass diese stets in einer gewöhnlichen Beatty-Menge \(\mathscr{B}(\tilde{\alpha},\tilde{\beta})\) enthalten sind und geben zulässige Werte für \(\tilde{\alpha}\) und \(\tilde{\beta}\) an. Das Komplement \(\mathscr{C} = \mathscr{B}(\tilde{\alpha},\tilde{\beta}) \setminus \{\lfloor m\alpha_1+n\alpha_2+\beta\rfloor : m,n\in\mathbb{N} \}\) erweist sich als endliche Menge und wir bestimmen obere Schranken für das Supremum von \(\mathscr{C}\). Die Beweise gründen sich auf einfache Verteilungseigenschaften der Folge der Nachkommastellen \(\{n\alpha_1^{-1}\alpha_2\}\), \(n=1,2,\ldots\), sofern \(\alpha_1^{-1}\alpha_2\) irrational ist, und berufen sich anderenfalls auf die Endlichkeit der Frobenius-Zahl einer geeignet gewählten Instanz des Frobeniusschen Münzproblems. Abschließend verallgemeinern wir die Definition von Beatty-Mengen auf imaginär-quadratische Zahlkörper in einer natürlichen Weise. Hat der fragliche Zahlkörper Klassenzahl \(1\), so können wir zeigen, dass diese Beatty-artigen Mengen unendlich viele Primelemente enthalten, sofern der zugehörige Parameter \(\alpha\) nicht im betrachteten Zahlkörper enthalten ist. Für den speziellen Zahlkörper \(\mathbb{Q}(i)\) erhalten wir unter Benutzung des Hurwitzschen Kettenbruch-Algorithmus eine Zahlkörper-Variante eines früheren Resultats von Steuding und dem Autor, welches ein Beatty-Analogon des klassischen Linnikschen Satzes über die kleinste Primzahl in einer arithmetischen Progression darstellt. Die erwähnten Resultate werden durch Zahlkörper-Varianten von klassischen Ergebnissen über die Verteilung von \(\{ p\vartheta \}\), \(p=2,3,5,7,11,\ldots\), \(\vartheta\in\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{Q}\), erhalten; Diese wurden kürzlich von Baier mittels der Harmanschen Siebmethode für \(\mathbb{Q}(i)\) bewiesen. Wir übertragen die zugehörigen Überlegungen auf Zahlkörper mit Klassenzahl \(1\). / For Beatty sets \(\mathscr{B}(\alpha,\beta) = \{ n\alpha+\beta : n\in\mathbb{N} \}\) with irrational \(\alpha>1\) and \(\beta\in\mathbb{R}\), and \(p\) prime and coprime to \(z\), we investigate the problem of detecting points \((m,\tilde{m})\) on the modular hyperbola \[ \mathscr{H}_{z,p} = \{(m,\tilde{m}) \in \mathbb{Z}^2\cap[1,p )^2 : m\tilde{m}\equiv z\mod p\} \] with \(\max\{ m, \tilde{m} \}\) as small as possible, i.e., we obtain non-trivial estimates for \[ \min\{ \max\{ m, \tilde{m} \} : (m,\tilde{m})\in\mathscr{H}_{z,p}, \, m\in\mathscr{B}(\alpha,\beta) \} \] for certain \(\alpha\). The proof rests on new estimates for incomplete Kloosterman sums along \(\mathscr{B}(\alpha,\beta)\) which are in turn obtained on supplying a method due to Banks and Shparlinski with a new estimate for the periodic autocorrelation of the finite sequence \[ 0,\, \operatorname{e}_p(y\overline{1}),\, \operatorname{e}_p(y\overline{2}),\, \ldots,\, \operatorname{e}_p(y\overline{p-1}), \quad \text{with \(y\) indivisible by \(p\)}, \] (\(\overline{m}\) denoting the unique integer \(m'\in[1,p)\) with \(mm'\equiv 1\bmod p\) and \(\operatorname{e}_p(x) = \exp(2\pi i x/p)\), the latter being obtained from adapting an argument due to Kloosterman. Furthermore, we investigate sets of the shape \(\{\lfloor m\alpha_1+n\alpha_2+\beta\rfloor : m,n\in\mathbb{N} \}\). We show that they are always contained in some ordinary Beatty set \(\mathscr{B}(\tilde{\alpha},\tilde{\beta})\) where we give admissible choices for \(\tilde{\alpha}\) and \(\tilde{\beta}\). Their respective complement \(\mathscr{C}\) in this ordinary Beatty set is shown to be finite and bounds for the supremum of \(\mathscr{C}\) are provided. The proofs are based on basic distribution properties of the sequence of fractional parts \(\{n\alpha_1^{-1}\alpha_2\}\), \(n=1,2,\ldots\), when \(\alpha_1^{-1}\alpha_2\) is irrational, and appeal to the finiteness of the Frobenius number associated with a suitably chosen instance of the Frobenius coin problem otherwise. Lastly, we generalise the definition of Beatty sets to imaginary quadratic number fields in a natural fashion. Assuming the number field in question to have class number \(1\), we are able to show that these Beatty-type sets contain infinitely many prime elements provided that the parameter corresponding to \(\alpha\) from above is not contained in the number field. When the number field is \(\mathbb{Q}(i)\), then, using the Hurwitz continued fraction expansion, we obtain a number field analogue of a previous result of Steuding and the author, who gave a Beatty set analogue of Linnik's famous theorem on the least prime number in an arithmetic progression. These results are obtained from number field analogues of classical results about the distribution of \(\{ p\vartheta \}\), \(p=2,3,5,7,11,\ldots\), \(\vartheta\in\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{Q}\), which were worked out recently by Baier for \(\mathbb{Q}(i)\) using Harman's sieve method. We generalise these arguments to imaginary quadratic number fields with class number \(1\).

There are many good reasons to teach a course on a systematic introduction to symbolic methods not only to students of mathematics but also to those of technical sciences. The design of such a course meets an essential difficulty since the principles to be demonstrated appear only in non trivial applications in a convincing way, but there is no time to teach the necessary contexts to a large extend. Hence the material intended to demonstrate different effects has to be chosen with great care. The goal of this paper is to show that for such a course algebraic numbers are not only interesting by their mathematical content but also as a complex target where different concepts and principles of symbolic computations become apparent. Thus they may serve at once as a non trivial application of the basic concepts, notations and principles developed earlier in such a course.

This paper continues our study of applications of factorized Gröbner basis computations in [8] and [9]. We describe a way to interweave factorized Gröbner bases and the ideas in [5] that leads to a significant speed up in the computation of isolated primes for well splitting examples. Based on that observation we generalize the algorithm presented in [22] to the computation of primary decompositions for modules. It rests on an ideal separation argument. We also discuss the practically important question how to extract a minimal primary decomposition, neither addressed in [5] nor in [17]. For that purpose we outline a method to detect necessary embedded primes in the output collection of our algorithm, similar to [22, cor. 2.22]. The algorithms are partly implemented in version 2.2.1 of our REDUCE package CALI [7].

Let k be a field, S = k[xv : v ϵ V] be the polynomial ring over the finite set of variables (xv : v ϵ V), and m = (xv : v ϵ V) the ideal defining the origin of Spec S. It is theoretically known (see e.g. Alonso et el., 1991) that the algorithmic ideas for the computation of ideal (and module) intersections, quotients, deciding radical membership etc. in S may be adopted not only for computations in the local ring Sm but also for term orders of mixed type with standard bases replacing Gröbner bases. Using the generalization of Mora's tangent cone algorithm to arbitrary term orders we give a detailed description of the necessary modifications and restrictions. In a second part we discuss a generalization of the deformation argument for standard bases and independent sets to term orders of mixed type. For local term orders these questions were investigated in Gräbe (1991). The main algorithmic ideas described are implemented in the author's REDUCE package CALI (Gräbe, 1993a).