Wieb Bosma & John Cannon 
Discovering Mathematics with Magma 
Reducing the Abstract to the Concrete

The appearance of this volume celebrates the ?rst decade of Magma, a new computeralgebrasystemlaunchedatthe First Magma Conferenceon Com- tational Algebra held at Queen Mary and West?eld College, London, August 1993. This book introduces the reader to the role Magma plays in advanced mathematical research. Each paper examines how the computer can be used to gain insight into either a single problem or a small group of closely related problems. The intention is to present su?cient detail so that a reader can (a), gain insight into the mathematical questions that are the origin of the problems, and(b), developanunderstandingastohowsuchcomputations are speci?edin Magma.Itishopedthatthereaderwillcometoarealisationofthe important rolethatcomputational algebracanplayinmathematical research. Readers not primarily interested in using Magma will easily acquire the skills needed to undertake basic programming in Magma, while experienced Magma users can learn both mathematics and advanced computational methods in areas related to their own. The core of the volume comprises 14 papers. The authors were invited to submit articles on designated topics and these articles were then reviewed by referees. Although by no means exhaustive, the topics range over a consid- ablepartof Magma’scoverageofalgorithmicalgebra:fromnumbertheoryand algebraicgeometry, viarepresentationtheoryandcomputationalgrouptheory to some branches of discrete mathematics and graph theory. The papers are preceded by an outline of the Magma project, a brief summary of the papers and some instructions on reading the Magma code. A basic introduction to the Magma language is given in an appendix. Theeditorsexpresstheirgratitudetothecontributorstothisvolume, both for the work put into producing the papers and for theirpatience.

Table of Content

Some computational experiments in number theory.- Applications of the class field theory of global fields.- Some ternary Diophantine equations of signature (n, n, 2).- Studying the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture for modular abelian varieties using Magma.- Computing with the analytic Jacobian of a genus 2 curve.- Graded rings and special K3 surfaces.- Constructing the split octonions.- Support varieties for modules.- When is projectivity detected on subalgebras?.- Cohomology and group extensions in Magma.- Computing the primitive permutation groups of degree less than 1000.- Computer aided discovery of a fast algorithm for testing conjugacy in braid groups.- Searching for linear codes with large minimum distance.- Colouring planar graphs.- Appendix: The Magma language.

About the author

Cannon:
1) Principal designer of the Magma system
2) Extensive contributions to the field of group theory algorithms
3) Awards:

1993 CSIRO Medal (for Computer Algebra)
2001 ATSE Clunies Ross Award (for Cryptography and Computer Algebra)
2006 Richard D. Jenks Memorial Prize for Excellence in Software Engineering Applied to Computer Algebra.

 
Bosma: co-designer of Magma, active in computational number theory and computer algebra