Seiberg-Witten Invariants and Rationality of Complex Surfaces

The purpose of this paper is: 1) to explain the Seiberg-Witten invariants, 2) to show that - on a K\"ahler surface - the solutions of the monopole equations can be interpreted as algebraic objects, namely effective divisors, 3) to give - as an application - a short selfcontained proof for the fact that rationality of complex surfaces is a ${\cal C}^{\infty}$-property.