The asymptotic Samuel function and invariants of singularities.

The asymptotic Samuel function generalizes to arbitrary rings the usual order function of a regular local ring. In this paper, we use this function to introduce the notion of the Samuel slope of a Noetherian local ring, and we study some of its properties. In particular, we focus on the case of a local ring at singular point of a variety, and, among other results, we prove that the Samuel slope of these rings is related to some invariants used in algorithmic resolution of singularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]