The already broad range of applications of ring theory has been enhanced
in the eighties by the increasing interest in algebraic structures of
considerable complexity, the so-called class of quantum groups. One of
the fundamental properties of quantum groups is that they are modelled
by associative coordinate rings possessing a canonical basis, which
allows for the use of algorithmic structures based on Groebner bases to
study them. This book develops these methods in a self-contained way,
concentrating on an in-depth study of the notion of a vast class of
non-commutative rings (encompassing most quantum groups), the so-called
Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt rings. We include algorithms which treat
essential aspects like ideals and (bi)modules, the calculation of
homological dimension and of the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension, the
Hilbert-Samuel polynomial, primality tests for prime ideals, etc.