This is the first book to link the mod 2 Steenrod algebra, a classical object of study in algebraic topology, with modular representations of matrix groups over the field F of two elements. The link is provided through a detailed study of Peterson's 'hit problem' concerning the action of the Steenrod algebra on polynomials, which remains unsolved except in special cases. The topics range from decompositions of integers as sums of 'powers of 2 minus 1', to Hopf algebras and the Steinberg representation of GL(n,F). Volume 1 develops the structure of the Steenrod algebra from an algebraic viewpoint and can be used as a graduate-level textbook. Volume 2 broadens the discussion to include modular representations of matrix groups.
This is the first book to link the mod 2 Steenrod algebra, a classical object of study in algebraic topology, with modular representations of matrix groups over the field F of two elements. The link is provided through a detailed study of Peterson's `hit problem' concerning the action of the Steenrod algebra on polynomials, which remains unsolved except in special cases. The topics range from decompositions of integers as sums of 'powers of 2 minus 1', to Hopf algebras and the Steinberg representation of GL(n, F). Volume 1 develops the structure of the Steenrod algebra from an algebraic viewpoint and can be used as a graduate-level textbook. Volume 2 broadens the discussion to include modular representations of matrix groups.
This book consists of a collection of original, refereed research and expository articles on elliptic aspects of geometric analysis on manifolds, including singular, foliated and non-commutative spaces. The topics covered include the index of operators, torsion invariants, K-theory of operator algebras and L2-invariants. There are contributions from leading specialists, and the book maintains a reasonable balance between research, expository and mixed papers.
This book discusses the unique properties of superfluid phases of 3He, the condensed matter with the outmost broken symmetry, which combine in a surprising way the properties of ordered magnets, liquid crystals and superfluids. The complicated vacuum state of these phases with a large number of fermionic and bosonic quasiparticles and topological objects remains the vacuum in modern quantum field theories. Some of the objects and physical phenomena in 3He have strong analogy with the neutrino, W-bosons, weak interactions, gravity, chiral anomaly, Quantum Hall Effect and fractional statistics. As an example of topological objects, the quantized vortices in 3He phases are discussed in detail, including singular and continuous vortices, half-quantum vortices, broken symmetry in the vortex core and phase transitions between the vortex states with different symmetry and topology.
Understanding the dynamics of gauge theories is crucial, given the fact that all known interactions are based on the principle of local gauge symmetry. Beyond the perturbative regime, however, this is a notoriously difficult problem. Requiring invariance under supersymmetry turns out to be a suitable tool for analyzing supersymmetric gauge theories over a larger region of the space of parameters. Supersymmetric quantum field theories in four dimensions with extended N=2 supersymmetry are further constrained and have therefore been a fertile field of research in theoretical physics for quite some time. Moreover, there are far-reaching mathematical ramifications that have led to a successful dialogue with differential and algebraic geometry. These lecture notes aim to introduce students of modern theoretical physics to the fascinating developments in the understanding of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories in a coherent fashion. Starting with a gentle introduction to electric-magnetic duality, the author guides readers through the key milestones in the field, which include the work of Seiberg and Witten, Nekrasov, Gaiotto and many others. As an advanced graduate level text, it assumes that readers have a working knowledge of supersymmetry including the formalism of superfields, as well as of quantum field theory techniques such as regularization, renormalization and anomalies. After his graduation from the University of Tokyo, Yuji Tachikawa worked at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and the Kavli Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. Presently at the Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tachikawa is the author of several important papers in supersymmetric quantum field theories and string theory.
This is the first book about commutative semigroups in general. Emphasis is on structure but the other parts of the theory are at least surveyed and a full set of about 850 references is included. The book is intended for mathematicians who do research on semigroups or who encounter commutative semigroups in their research.
This book, which can be considered as a sequel of the author's famous book Character Theory of Finite Groups, concerns the character theory of finite solvable groups and other groups that have an abundance of normal subgroups. It is subdivided into three parts: -theory, character correspondences, and M-groups. The -theory section contains an exposition of D. Gajendragadkar's -special characters, and it includes various extensions, generalizations, and applications of his work. The character correspondences section proves the McKay character counting conjecture and the Alperin weight conjecture for solvable groups, and it constructs a canonical McKay bijection for odd-order groups. In addition to a review of some basic material on M-groups, the third section contains an exposition of the use of symplectic modules for studying M-groups. In particular, an accessible presentation of E. C. Dade's deep results on monomial characters of odd prime-power degree is included. Very little of this material has previously appeared in book form, and much of it is based on the author's research. By reading a clean and accessible presentation written by the leading expert in the field, researchers and graduate students will be inspired to learn and work in this area that has fascinated the author for decades.
