Desingularization: Invariants and Strategy

This book provides a rigorous and self-contained review of desingularization theory. Focusing on arbitrary dimensional schemes, it discusses the important concepts in full generality, complete with proofs, and includes an introduction to the basis of Hironaka's Theory. The core of the book is a complete proof of desingularization of surfaces; despite being well-known, this result was no more than folklore for many years, with no existing references. Throughout the book there are numerous computations on standard bases, blowing ups and characteristic polyhedra, which will be a source of inspiration for experts exploring bigger dimensions. Beginners will also benefit from a section which presents some easily overlooked pathologies.