Hilbert Functions play major roles in Algebraic Geometry and Commutative
Algebra, and are becoming increasingly important also in Computational
Algebra. They capture many useful numerical characters associated to a
projective variety or to a filtered module over a local ring. Starting
from the pioneering work of D.G. Northcott and J. Sally, we aim to
gather together in one place many new developments of this theory by
using a unifying approach which gives self-contained and easier proofs.
The extension of the theory to the case of general filtrations on a
module, and its application to the study of certain graded algebras
which are not associated to a filtration are two of the main features of
the monograph. The material is intended for graduate students and
researchers who are interested in Commutative Algebra, in particular in
the theory of the Hilbert Functions and related topics.