Number Theory in Function Fields

Elementary number theory is concerned with the arithmetic properties of the ring of integers, Z, and its field of fractions, the rational numbers, Q. Early on in the development of the subject it was noticed that Z has many properties in common with A = IF[T], the ring of polynomials over a finite field. Both rings are principal ideal domains, both have the property that the residue class ring of any non-zero ideal is finite, both rings have infinitely many prime elements, and both rings ha...