The Large Sieve and its Applications: Arithmetic Geometry, Random Walks and Discrete Groups [Hardcover]

Explains new applications of the 'large sieve', an important tool of analytic number theory, presenting potential uses beyond this area.The 'large sieve', an important technical tool of analytic number theory, has advanced extensively in recent years. This book develops a general form of sieve inequality, and describes its varied, sometimes surprising applications, with potential uses in fields as wide ranging as topology, probability, arithmetic geometry and discrete group theory.The 'large sieve', an important technical tool of analytic number theory, has advanced extensively in recent years. This book develops a general form of sieve inequality, and describes its varied, sometimes surprising applications, with potential uses in fields as wide ranging as topology, probability, arithmetic geometry and discrete group theory.Among the modern methods used to study prime numbers, the sieve has been one of the most efficient. Originally conceived by Linnik in 1941, the large sieve has developed extensively since the 1960s, with a recent realization that the underlying principles were capable of applications going well beyond prime number theory. This book develops a general form of sieve inequality, and describes its varied applications, including the study of families of zeta functions of algebraic curves over finite fields; arithmetic properties of characteristic polynomials of random unimodular matrices; homological properties of random 3-manifolds; and the average number of primes dividing the denominators of rational points on elliptic curves. Also covered in detail are the tools of harmonic analysis used to implement the forms of the large sieve inequality, including the Riemann Hypothesis over finite fields, and Property (T) or Property (tau) for discrete groups.Preface; Prerequisites and notation; 1. Introduction; 2. The principle of the large sieve; 3. Group and conjugacy sieves; 4. Elementary and classical examples; 5. Degrees of representations of finite lCR