Algebraic geometry is the branch of geometry that studies figures defined as the zero loci of polynomials, namely algebraic varieties and schemes, by algebraic methods. Classically it began as the theory of projective varieties over the complex numbers, but since Grothendieck's introduction of scheme theory it has been vastly extended to spaces associated with arbitrary commutative rings and to geometry over general bases, becoming closely tied to commutative algebra, number theory, and complex geometry. It uses sheaves and cohomology as basic tools and encompasses resolution of singularities, birational geometry, moduli theory, and étale cohomology, among other subjects, and it underlies fields such as arithmetic geometry.