3 Review(s)

This book is an elementary introduction to $p$-adic analysis from the number theory perspective. With over 100 exercises, it will acquaint the non-expert with the basic ideas of the theory and encourage the novice to enter this fertile field of research. The main focus of the book is the study of $p$-adic $L$-functions and their analytic properties. It begins with a basic introduction to Bernoulli numbers and continues with establishing the Kummer congruences.These congruences are then used to construct the $p$-adic analog of the Riemann zeta function and $p$-adic analogs of Dirichlet's $L$-functions. Featured is a chapter on how to apply the theory of Newton polygons to determine Galois groups of polynomials over the rational number field. As motivation for further study, the final chapter introduces Iwasawa theory. The book treats the subject informally, making the text accessible to non-experts. It would make a nice independent text for a course geared toward advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students.