Algebraic geometry

Algebraic geometry is the study of geometric properties of the objects defined by algebraic equations. For example, a parabola, such as all solutions $(x,y)$ of the equation $y-x^{2}=0$, is one such object, whereas one can prove that the graph of the exponential function---all solutions $(x,y)$ of the equation $y-e^{x}=0$---is not, i.e. the exponential equation cannot be replaced by an equivalent system of polynomial equations. The key distinction is that the equation defining the first example is a polynomial equation, whereas the second cannot be represented by polynomial equations. The first approximation of the adjective algebraic could be defined by polynomials. Next, this kind of algebraic sets are glued together in a proper way to form more general objects of interest to algebraic geometry, while the more elementary algebraic geometry of algebraic sets is closely related to commutative algebra.