This book is about the computational aspects of invariant theory. Of
central interest is the question how the invariant ring of a given group
action can be calculated. Algorithms for this purpose form the main
pillars around which the book is built. There are two introductory
chapters, one on Gröbner basis methods and one on the basic concepts of
invariant theory, which prepare the ground for the algorithms. Then
algorithms for computing invariants of finite and reductive groups are
discussed. Particular emphasis lies on interrelations between structural
properties of invariant rings and computational methods. Finally, the
book contains a chapter on applications of invariant theory, covering
fields as disparate as graph theory, coding theory, dynamical systems,
and computer vision.
The book is intended for postgraduate students as well as researchers in
geometry, computer algebra, and, of course, invariant theory. The text
is enriched with numerous explicit examples which illustrate the theory
and should be of more than passing interest.
More than ten years after the first publication of the book, the second
edition now provides a major update and covers many recent developments
in the field. Among the roughly 100 added pages there are two
appendices, authored by Vladimi
r Popov, and an addendum by Norbert A'Campo and Vladimir Popov.