{"@context":["https://w3id.org/fdo/context/v1",{"schema":"https://schema.org/","prov":"http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#","fdo":"https://w3id.org/fdo/vocabulary/"}],"@id":"https://fdo.portal.mardi4nfdi.de/fdo/Q1065883","@type":"DigitalObject","kernel":{"@id":"https://fdo.portal.mardi4nfdi.de/fdo/Q1065883","digitalObjectType":"https://schema.org/ScholarlyArticle","primaryIdentifier":"mardi:Q1065883","kernelVersion":"v1","immutable":true,"modified":"2026-01-06T00:57:54Z"},"profile":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ScholarlyArticle","@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q1065883","name":"An introduction to real algebra","headline":"An introduction to real algebra","description":"scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3922839","url":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q1065883","datePublished":"1984-00-00","author":[{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q1233903"}],"publisher":[{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q168778"}],"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","propertyID":"doi","value":"10.1216/RMJ-1984-14-4-767","url":"https://doi.org/10.1216/RMJ-1984-14-4-767"},"sameAs":["https://doi.org/10.1216/RMJ-1984-14-4-767"],"comment":"Very clearly written, with a large amount of comments and motivations, this introduction to real algebra is a fundamental survey on the subject.    The first paragraph is devoted to the level s(A) of a ring A, that is the smallest number n such that -1 can be expressed as a sum of n squares. The second paragraph discusses two notions of reality: semi-reality when \\(s(A)=\\infty\\), and reality when \\(\\sum a^ 2_ i=0\\Rightarrow a_ i=0.\\) Paragraph 3 is Artin-Schreier theory for an arbitrary ring: with a convenient definition of ordering (also known as prime cone) of a ring, the result is that a ring is semi-real iff it admits an ordering. The fourth paragraph is about the real spectrum of a ring, that is the space of orderings (or prime cones) of the ring, equipped with a convenient topology and its basic properties. - Paragraph 5 gives an algebraic proof of the Artin-Lang homomorphism theorem via valuation ring techniques, and paragraph 6 contains proofs of Hilbert's 17th problem and of real nullstellensatz, using the Artin-Lang homomorphism.    Paragraph 7 gives the formal null and positivstellensatz for the real spectrum of an arbitrary ring. In paragraph 8, the beginning steps of the theory of semi-algebraic sets is given. The bijection between constructible sets in the real spectrum of the coordinate ring of a real algebraic set V and the semi-algebraic sets of V appears as a consequence of the Artin-Lang homomorphism theorem. Stengle's positivstellensätze are then deduced from this bijection and the formal result in paragraph 7.    The paper ends with an historical discussion and comments on the Tarski- Seidenberg principle and the finiteness theorem in semi-algebraic geometry."},"provenance":{"prov:generatedAtTime":"2026-01-06T00:57:54Z","prov:wasAttributedTo":"MaRDI Knowledge Graph"}}