Handbook of algebra

Algebra, as we know it today, consists of many different ideas, concepts and results. A reasonable estimate of the number of these different ”items” would be somewhere between 50000 and 200000. Many of these have been named and many more could (and perhaps should) have a ”name” or a convenient designation. Even the nonspecialist is likely to encounter most of these, either somewhere in the literature, disguised as a definition or a theorem or to hear about them and feel the need for more information. If this happens, one should be able to find at least something in this Handbook and hopefully enough to judge if it is worthwhile to pursue the quest. In addition to the primary information, references to relevant articles, books or lecture notes should help the reader to complete his understanding. To make this possible, we have provided an index which is more extensive than usual and not limited to definitions, theorems and the like.