Sieves in Number Theory: (43 Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete. 3. Folge / A Series of Modern Surveys in Mathematics)

Slightly more than 25 years ago, the first text devoted entirely to sieve meth­ ods made its appearance, rapidly to become a standard source and reference in the subject. The book of H. Halberstam and H.-E. Richert had actually been conceived in the mid-1960's. The initial stimulus had been provided by the paper of W. B. Jurkat and Richert, which determined the sifting limit for the linear sieve, using a combination of the ,A2 method of A. Selberg with combinatorial ideas which were in themselves of great importance and in­ terest. One of the declared objectives in writing their book was to place on record the sharpest form of what they called Selberg sieve theory available at the time. At the same time combinatorial methods were not neglected, and Halber­ stam and Richert included an account of the purely combinatorial method of Brun, which they believed to be worthy of further examination. Necessar­ ily they included only a briefer mention of the development of these ideas due (independently) to J. B. Rosser and H. Iwaniec that became generally available around 1971. These combinatorial notions have played a central part in subsequent developments, most notably in the papers of Iwaniec, and a further account may be thought to be timely. There have also been some developments in the theory of the so-called sieve with weights, and an account of these will also be included in this book.

Table of Contents:
1. The Structure of Sifting Arguments.- 2. Selberg’s Upper Bound Method.- 3. Combinatorial Methods.- 4. Rosser’s Sieve.- 5. The Sieve with Weights.- 6. The Remainder Term in the Linear Sieve.- 7. Lower Bound Sieves when ? > 1.- References.

Review :
From the reviews of the first edition: "The author presents a self-contained account of the small sieve. ... This well-written book will become my primary source for the small sieve ... . I recommend it to everybody who is interested in the technically complicated theory on sieve methods." (R. Tijdeman, Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde, Vol. 4 (3), 2003) "The author's choice of subjects provides a good background in the basic ideas of the sieve ... . This text also supplies excellent background for some of the important unsolved problems of the subject. ... In conclusion, the reviewer recommends this book strongly to students of sieve methods in the opening years of the twenty-first century. It will likely become one of the standard references on the subject." (Sidney W. Graham, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1003 (03), 2003) "The book being reviewed is an excellent survey on sieve methods. ... The book is well written indeed, and most of the material can be described as self-contained. It can therefore be read by university graduates making their first acquaintance with the subject ... ." (P. Shiu, The Mathematical Gazette, Vol. 86 (507), 2002)