Invariant Theory of Finite Groups

The questions that have been at the center of invariant theory since the 19th century have revolved around the following themes: finiteness, computation, and special classes of invariants. This book begins with a survey of many concrete examples chosen from these themes in the algebraic, homological, and combinatorial context. In further chapters, the authors pick one or the other of these questions as a departure point and present the known answers, open problems, and methods and tools needed to obtain these answers. Chapter 2 deals with algebraic finiteness. Chapter 3 deals with combinatorial finiteness. Chapter 4 presents Noetherian finiteness. Chapter 5 addresses homological finiteness. Chapter 6 presents special classes of invariants, which deal with modular invariant theory and its particular problems and features. Chapter 7 collects results for special classes of invariants and coinvariants such as (pseudo) reflection groups and representations of low degree.;If the ground field is finite, ad The book contains numerous examples to illustrate the theory, often of more than passing interest, and an appendix on commutative graded algebra, which provides some of the required basic background. There is an extensive reference list to provide the reader with orientation to the vast literature.